British Airways is positioning itself as the airline for ’21st
century air travel’ with its new star-studded ad campaign.
BA has ditched its ’World’s Favourite Airline’ strapline to focus on
changes it has made to move forward. The ad, through M&C Saatchi, cost
more than pounds 1m to make, and is backed by a UK spend of pounds
4m.
In the ad, a young girl sees hundreds of famous passengers from the past
century streaming through an airport. The ad is backed by a soundtrack
of the 60s hit Something in the Air.
Actors play dead celebrities including Alfred Hitchcock, John Lennon and
Diana Dors, who walk alongside real modern day stars such as Michael
Owen, Damon Hill, Naseem Hamed, Jerry Hall and PJ O’Rourke, who featured
in BA’s last commercial. The girl’s journey ends as she walks toward a
’bright future’ with a BA stewardess.
The commercial also features Margaret Thatcher, who famously criticised
BA’s ethnic tailfins, but allowed BA to use an electronically created
image of her in the ad.
Martin George, BA’s marketing director, said: ’The campaign demonstrates
the breadth of our product. We want to make it clear to the public that
we are not just about business travellers.’
