Here’s a good one that brought many images to our mind’s eye.
AdWeek touted this commercial called “First Flight” as its Ad of the Day. They pointed out a few things:
- It is the first television campaign in Heathrow’s 70-year history.
- It is set to David Bowie’s “When I Live My Dream” from his debut 1967 record.
- It looks at travel through the eyes of an adorable 5-year-old named Harriett.
- Her companion happens to be a piece of luggage with a wide-eyed owl face (AKA Owly)
- Apparently, Owly is actually on sale at the John Lewis store in Terminal 2 at Heathrow.
Got that?
Also Notable: First Flight, and the 70th anniversary campaign has been created by advertising agency Havas. It is directed by DOM&NIC through Outsider Productions.
Cute Kid reminds us of…
The kid is definitely cute. And the picture in the AdWeek piece reminded us of… The Little Girl from The Little Prince movie (of course, right?). A reminder that Netflix is releasing the movie in a couple of weeks.
Animal Wheelie reminds us of…
Circling back, let’s talk about Owly (which we suppose could be pronounced to sound like “early” — an ideal landing time for anyone who flies). An animal roller bag. We’ve seen that concept before.
Of course! [Thank you Google] It was a Delta airlines ad called “No Bag Left Behind.”
This one tracked the bag from drop off — to flight — to back into the hands of a little girl.
Instead of an owl, this bag was a cute bear.
The little girl here is definitely older than wee Harriet the Heathrow traveler.
A W+K Special…
When the “No Bag” ad made its rounds, it was critically acclaimed for a number of reasons:
- The spot derives from the insight that Delta flies more people than any other airline.
- Directed by Noam Murro, the ad follows the bear-shaped bag of a small girl as it is cared for by Delta employees ensuring its safe delivery.
- Actor Donald Sutherland’s voice provides the perfect calm cadence to narrate the spot, concluding with the line, “…but when you’ve got an entire company who knows that the fewest cancellations and the most on-time flights are nothing if we can’t get your things there too, it’s no wonder more people choose Delta than any other airline,” delivered as the very relieved girl picks up her bag.
Similar But Different..
So the Heathrow ad is about the spirit of adventure. Travels with a companion. Very much the Aviator and Little Girl in The Little Prince.
For the Delta piece, the emphasis is on service and commitment — by making sure things go right, travelers of all ages can focus on embracing the adventure.
Both are memorable — may even qualify for Ice Box Humor** (recall hours later).
** The concept comes from “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” where comedian-actor Steve Martin makes mention of the “icebox laugh,” which occurs when a joke or situation fails to make you laugh at the time, but finally strikes you as funny an hour later, when you’re at home, standing in front of the icebox.
Staying Curious…
As we researched the W+K New York’s Delta ad with the wheelie luggage, we made a fantastic discovery — their Delta Summer Fridays campaign.
Delta has introduced a ‘Go Fridays’ campaign. Each week throughout the summer, Delta will find overworked New Yorkers wherever they are and award them with plane tickets, Mets and Yankees tickets, The New York Spectacular at Radio City tickets, and even more incentives to send an ‘out of office’ auto-reply on Friday.
We say:
Hey Delta! Want to try that in the SF Bay Area?
That’s a wrap! #SCMF!
—The Gang
Bonus Content:
Lyrics for “When I Live My Dream” include the following:
When I live my dream, I’ll take you with me
Riding on a golden horse
We’ll live within my castle, with people there to serve you…
…Baby, I’ll slay a dragon for you
Or banish wicked giants from the land
But you will find, that nothing in my dream can hurt you
We will only love each other as forever
When I live my dream…
Very sixties, this song is.
Some Notable Quotables:
Heathrow has been proudly connecting the UK to the rest of the world for 70 years. Our campaign subtly celebrates the work that goes on behind the scenes by more than 400 organisations to make flight possible at Heathrow. The story is told through the eyes our heroine who sees the result of the airport team’s work as touches of magic throughout her journey with Heathrow.’
said Heathrow’s CEO John Holland-Kaye.
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