As much as I’m not a huge fan of British Airways’ onboard product, they have some incredible ads. While their traditional ad campaigns as such are great, my favorites are the themed ones, which tell stories that abstractly bring home the point that you should fly British Airways.
They’ve done this especially well with encouraging people to travel to/from India. For example, check out this “Visit Mum” video they created in 2013, which is almost guaranteed to make you cry:
Earlier in the year they created a new ad called “British Airways: Fuelled By Love,” which was also great, though couldn’t quite compare to the original “Visit Mum” campaign:
Well, British Airways has just released another pretty awesome ad campaign, called “Welcome to Our Family.” Here’s how the video is described:
British Airways and Ancestry, the largest provider of family history and personal DNA testing, have united two sisters from Texas, for the first time, with their half-sister in the UK. The surprise that occurred on board a flight from Austin to London, was captured in a video that debuts today.
Mandy Shore (age 71) was born in Britain during World War II and was raised by her adoptive parents. When she began researching her family tree Mandy found information on her mother but her father continued to remain a mystery until she initiated a search through the AncestryDNA database.
To her surprise she discovered her father had two other daughters Lynn Garner (now 65) and Ann Burrage (now 61) who both lived in Texas. British Airways heard about the sisters’ story and offered to bring the family together in England. However, the meeting came earlier than expected as the airline invited Mandy to surprise her half-sisters on their flight to Heathrow.
And here’s the video:
It’s cute and very well done, though I’ll say that nothing compares to the “Visit Mum” campaign from a few years back, which makes me cry every time. Ugh!!
It’s brilliant that they put them in Club World, since it’s even more intimate than economy in terms of getting to know the people around you. How perfect for two people who have 60+ years of catching up to do. 😉
What did you think of British Airways’ “Welcome to Our Family” campaign?
Yeap, cried too :-(
Putting a positive spin on three seats across in business.
Shucks Lucky! You're just an old softy!
Thanks to you and Ed W for sharing 4 great ads! Sure to strike a cord with all!
So BA's squished business class seat IS good for something! ;)
Their 'Face' advert from the late 1980s remains one of the great airline advertisements to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxbgm9Bmkzw
It's not a good idea to fly out a seventy year old on back to back long hauls! Jet lag affects people in their twenties here we are talking about a seventy one year old.
Though we exactly don't know how long Mandy was on the ground in Austin before her return flight to LHR.
I don't cry at anything. But, Visit Mum got me. Well played, BA. Well played.
BA does get the emotional factor right on with their commercials.
With everything in the news lately, it's good to see this.
Call me sappy, but the tears ever so slightly began to come. I totally understand why the hard product perhaps leaves something to be desired, but I've always loved BA service - you definitely have to show them that you can give and take the banter (especially as an American), but once you do it's warm and friendly as ever. Great video, as per usual with BA.
Yup, cried. Damn you, Lucky.