As reported by the South China Morning Post, a Cathay Pacific executive isn’t too happy about Singapore Airlines’ new ad campaign, which has garnered a lot of attention.
“Welcome to World Class” vs. “Life Well Travelled”
Last week, Singapore Airlines unveiled its newest ad campaign, named “Welcome to World Class.” This is the carrier’s first major ad campaign since the start of the pandemic, and it has proven to be wildly popular. One version of the video on YouTube alone has been seen 23 million times as of now, with tens of millions of views through other social platforms as well. Clearly the concept is resonating with people.
Well, one Cathay Pacific executive has some interesting comments about this video. In a personal post on LinkedIn that has since been deleted (and which doesn’t represent the official view of the company), Cathay Pacific’s head of global marketing communications, Edward Bell, couldn’t help but congratulate Singapore Airlines in a rather shady way, accusing his rival of copying the Hong Kong-based carrier’s ad:
“Congratulations Singapore Airlines on your latest brand campaign. But I can’t help notice that it strongly resembles what we did several years ago?”
Specifically, he’s referring to Cathay Pacific’s “Life Well Travelled” ad campaign from back in 2015, and he included a link to the below ad.
Are these two ad campaigns similar?
Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are two of my favorite airline brands. Both carriers consistently have incredible marketing, among my favorite out there of any airline. Singapore Airlines’ ads are consistently so elegant and refined, while Cathay Pacific’s ads tend to capture the magic of travel, and often the energy of Hong Kong.
Specific to this claim, personally I don’t see the Singapore Airlines ad as being a copycat of the Cathay Pacific ad. Are there some similarities? I mean, sure. That’s also true of airline liveries, safety videos, and even inflight products, because there are only so many directions airlines can go.
The ad campaigns are similar in the sense that they each follow one woman, and show that person traveling to different destinations. Beyond that, though, there are tons of differences:
- Singapore Airlines follows a flight attendant, while Cathay Pacific follows a passenger
- Singapore Airlines’ ad is narrated, while Cathay Pacific’s isn’t
- Singapore Airlines’ ad is more about how experiencing the world makes Singapore Airlines world class, rather than just about the general wonders of travel
- Singapore Airlines’ ad arguably takes a dig at competitors, talking about how the airline offers “6-star hospitality” rather than a “5-star badge”
If you ask me, Singapore Airlines’ “Welcome to World Class” ad took just as much inspiration from its own 2013 “The Lengths We Go” ad campaign as it did from Cathay Pacific’s 2015 campaign. The themes between the 2013 and 2023 ads are similar, showcasing flight attendants traveling around the globe, and that experience making them who they are, and allowing them to delivery world class service.
Bottom line
A Cathay Pacific marketing executive is accusing Singapore Airlines of copying its ad campaign. Specifically, the claim is that the 2023 “Welcome to World Class” ad is inspired by the 2015 “Life Well Travelled” ad. Personally I don’t think there’s any merit to this (or at least not enough to try to call out a competitor in this way), but people will likely have different takes here.
What do you think — was this a copycat ad, or not?
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