BA, Don’t Fly…

We didn’t realise the ploy of this ad when we first watched it. You are led to think it’s another global brand campaigning to be the part of the Olympics and being unreservedly British to get people on side. But if you stop to take this in, it is very clever advertising from BBH London.

This year, undoubtedly fewer Brits will  be leaving the country with the greatest show on Earth being held in their own back garden. We will be staying put and supporting Britain! BA, realising this, have taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to capture the Nation’s imagination. They can’t persuade us to fly, but there is sentiment behind the tagline to build brand awareness in a patriotic way. This is a rare opportunity in which you’ll find the majority of the nation on home soil at once.

The ad itself is pretty simple, a BA plane taxiing the roads of London, collecting supporters and taking them to the Olympic Park themed to the iconic sound track of ‘London Calling’ by The Clash.

This spot forms part of an incredibly ‘on message’ campaign centered around Home Advantage, which simply says ‘you can fly with us after the Olympics… because we love Britain too!’.

The conversation encouraging people to get behind Team GB spans some pretty tidy print work; digital output on Facebook from Ogilvy One; and a massive outdoor/ guerrilla advertising push, namely their stunt last week to paint a huge image of Jessica Ennis under the Heathrow flight path to remind overseas athletes of Team GB’s home advantage. As well as hosting a live broadcast of the Games on a giant screen within a dedicated mini 10,000 arena. Pretty impressive, no?!

There has been much debate around ethics and Olympic sponsorship however we think this is a best in class example of how to do it. It not only follows and supports the recent government-funded domestic tourism campaign, ‘Why Would You Want To Go Abroad?’, but the ideas have that all encompassing ‘British’ feel to them. #homeadvantage

F&G.