British Airways is back with another tearjerker!
As some of you may remember, last July British Airways unveiled their “Visit Mum” campaign, which was one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever seen:
It takes a lot for me to get emotional, but this one really did it for me. I think as travelers we can all relate to the sentiment expressed in the video in one form or another. And that doesn’t even account for how beautifully the video was produced.
While British Airways has had some decent ad campaigns since then, nothing has quite matched “Visit Mum,” in my opinion… until now.
British Airways just unveiled their latest ad campaign, entitled “The Welcome of Home.” It might just be on par with “Visit Mum,” and is a tearjerker.
Here’s how British Airways describes the video:
Following British Airways’ successful ‘Visit Mum’ campaign last year, the airline today launched its next campaign designed to engage the Indian expatriate community. British Airways has teamed up with the award-winning documentary filmmaking duo Wilkins and Maguire to bring to life the emotional journey that Indian expats often experience when returning to see family. ‘The Welcome of Home’ short film follows the real story of Chitra and family as they prepare for her much anticipated trip home to India.
North America is home to close to three million Indian residents. A large proportion of these people have large extended families back in India and travel back for family events, festive periods and special occasions. British Airways’ research among the target audience revealed that along with excitement, there were feelings of apprehension and anxiety about what might await them, especially if they haven’t been back home in a while. British Airways has specifically tailored their service on this route to include Bollywood films, warm personalized service from cabin crew (including crew in traditional Indian dress), Hindu and Muslim meals and even extra baggage allowance from the US & Canada to accommodate the vast arrays of gifts which often travel each way.
Here’s the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vslMGd49ByQ
Very, very well done, British Airways!
And gosh, I’m a wreck. Based on the moisture of my eyes you’d think I’m a pre-teen girl that just found out all five members of One Direction are off the market!
What do you think of British Airways’ new “The Welcome of Home” video?
This is a pretty nice video but original "Mum" video (the long version) is way more of a tear-jerker.
Oh my, oh my! I've been studying in the US for a couple of months now and I'm from Norway, so these two BA videos just made me cry my eyes out. Such an emotional mess right now.
@Ben, what happened to the embedded link? It's now a surfing video. I mean, way hotter to look at, but probably not germane to this conversation.
@ Nick @ brit44 -- Whoops, fixed!
Ok now I found it. This hits home in so many ways. Living 5,500 miles away from where I grew up and where my family still live is tough. My kids not growing up with their grandparents and cousins, the list goes on. Skype and FaceTime are great but not the same.
Time to book that ticket again...
Is that the right link for the video? It is a great video of teaching street children in Africa surfing, but I'm pretty sure that's not the one everyone is commenting on.
This definitely reached out to me more. My parents live 30 mins away from me whereas my grandmother lives in Asia. Similar to the woman in the video, I was 12 when we my family moved to the USA.
Teary right now. This video is aptly timed since I'll be visiting my grandmother next month for the holidays!
People are writing so many reasons why we shouldn't think BA is a nice company to Indians. I have only one thing to say, at this moment.
I can't read with all this tears here. Damn...
Let`s face the facts tomorrow and just me emotional today, shall we?
1) I loved the fact that BA reserves some of its best marketing efforts towards Indians, after all we are their second largest intentional market.
2) This campaign was good, but got nothing on the legendary "Visit Mum"
3) @Apu - Indians won't need a transit visa for UK from 1st december onwards, if you have a valid USA visa, so that's a welcome development
WOW!!!
Bravo, Apu.
If we can't compete on the hard product, service or price, at least push for the appeal of ethos. Profits, the motivation behind such theatrical efforts, colored all sentiments disingenuous
I love their ads... it touches my heart, makes me cry, and it also makes me feel that I should go back to my home often
However, BA's fuel surcharges also makes me cry. The pain and agony when I have to pay their overcharged YQs while AA and other carriers do not release award seats.
My thoughts -
However emotional an ad BA shoots and advertises, it does not change the following facts -
1) Most Indians who are on some kind of visa need a "transit visa" to transit through LHR - even if they are planeside and not coming out of the airport, and that thing costs almost a 100$ and efforts to get the visa by sending the passport, etc. - the whole circus!
2)...
My thoughts -
However emotional an ad BA shoots and advertises, it does not change the following facts -
1) Most Indians who are on some kind of visa need a "transit visa" to transit through LHR - even if they are planeside and not coming out of the airport, and that thing costs almost a 100$ and efforts to get the visa by sending the passport, etc. - the whole circus!
2) The service of the staff from most people I talked to first hand about the BA staff - has been sub-par compared to flying SQ or CX coach, which may involve some extra hours of flying or the UA non-stop from east coast is a preferable option
3) In peak Decembers, there are delays due to snow and winters - another reason why people prefer flying TPAC at those times and not depend on the timeliness of the TATL flights.
4) Some people still harbor the feeling that the Brits ruled the Indians and basically looted India for over 150 years of its wealth - and they stay away from anything British!
Come on UK - now grow up and know your stuff... if you charge 500$ for a tourist visa - you think I will fly via LHR and take a stopover there? Hell NOOOoooooooo.....
Very touching videos, thanks a lot for posting these. Thanks to your booking service, I'll be visiting my mom for the first time on miles :)
Agree with AJK, this is just ok. I could relate more with the last year's visit mum video.
I was blown away by their "A Ticket to Visit Mum" last year. One of the greatest marketing videos I've ever seen.
While this one was definitely good, it didn't reach reach that one, at least for me.
That should be "Feels like home"
Seems similar to the just released Qantas "Welcome Home" campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RhgfA662k
Where's the scene where the soon-to-be-married couple gets told about the fuel surcharges?
Where's the scene where their request for more water goes ignored?
Where's the scene when the couple transits LHR T5?
Where's the scene where they try and redeem Avios for an award ticket and...
I'll stop now.
I'm crying for them too!
@ TravelinWilly -- LOL!