Virgin Atlantic marks a sexy quarter century

Before the first Virgin Atlantic flight took off on June 22, 1984, the flight attendants made a major exhibition of themselves, flaunting their assets as they strutted through the terminal, their impossible sexiness causing men to drool, women to fume and little girls to dream. At least, that's the scenario put forth in this new spot from RKCR/Y&R and Traktor celebrating Virgin's 25 years of flight. Our favorite Virgin Atlantic ad remains the one below. Not quite as sexy, perhaps, but entertaining nonetheless.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on January 9, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Europe, Nudd, RKCR, Virgin Atlantic

Marketers try to make of meal of Leap Day

Today, Feb. 29, is Leap Day, the day added every four years to keep the calendar from falling out of step with the astronomical year and destroying civilization as we know it. The New York Times reported earlier this week on some efforts from marketers to take advantage. Mostly, this seems to involve offers of free food from restaurants like Boston Market, Morton’s The Steakhouse and Papa John’s, who apparently see Feb. 29 as just another opportunity for you to gorge yourself. (Most of the offers only apply to “leaplings,” who are those actually born on Feb. 29.) Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty is trying something a bit more admirable by holding self-esteem workshops around the world. (“Our mission is to make more women feel beautiful every day,” says a rep.) Virgin America has been holding a “Why leap when you can fly” sale. And the tourism people in Atlantic City, N.J., have come up with 29 ways to enjoy the boardwalk and beyond. The most famous leaplings of all, Norway’s Henriksen siblings (shown here), born on consecutive Leap Days in 1960, 1964 and 1968, are keeping a low profile, out of all ad materials (though Mental Floss magazine is having a 20-percent-off sale in their honor). And the one marketer perhaps entitled to toot its horn today, Intel, whose tagline is “Leap ahead,” doesn’t appear to be doing anything special. Which may be for the best.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on February 29, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Nudd, Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic associates itself with vomit

Virgin Atlantic has a thing for barf bags. It once brightened up its own bags with artists’ designs, as part of a contest called Design for Chunks (tagline: “Retch for the sky”). Then it created Star Wars sickness bags, for those who found themselves on the dark side during bumpy flights. Now, with help from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Virgin is stapling giant barf bags around a number of cities, including New York, San Francisco and Chicago. The headline is: “How did air travel become so bloody awful?” Click the image to enlarge. The last line reads, “If any of you out there are about to travel on Virgin Atlantic, cheers. Time to rinse that bad taste of flying out of your mouth. If not, we say try to enjoy your next flight. And oh, you might want to take this with you.” Some would say Virgin is obsessed with vomit, but CP+B’s Bill Wright says, “We thought a barf bag was a pretty good metaphor for what’s going on in air travel these days.” Photo by clearrants.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on May 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (1)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

What is Virgin Atlantic trying to say?

Virgin Atlantic has had some interesting ads over the years: the weird-dream interpreter; the moaning and groaning back-massage banner; the TV spot depicting a passenger’s reverie of forbidden homosexual love. This new work, from Eight Partnership in Hong Kong, replicates the basic tone, but with a bit of the subtlety drained away. The campaign is meant to talk up the entertainment options on board Virgin flights. (Passengers apparently get some 300 hours of movies, music, video games and TV programs, and you can text message anyone on the ground as well as other passengers.) The 9-inch line refers to the size of the seat-back TV screens. Eight Partnership says Virgin is “a brand that has always been associated with fun, entertainment and innovation.” And now, slap-you-in-the-face sexual innuendo.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 16, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

How deep is your mile-high gay love?

This ad’s a few years old but worth a look back. A cramped overnight airplane trip inspires a reverie of homosexual bliss for one guy, until he wakes up. Perfect Bee Gees soundtrack. Done by BBDO for Virgin Atlantic.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 20, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

Sex Pistol shoots off his mouth for Virgin Airways

For the second time in as many months, I’ve been scouring the Web in search of the current radio campaign for Virgin Atlantic Airways, which is worth a listen for any baby boomer who still dreams of being pals with rock stars. So far, I’m coming up dry so if anyone out there can provide us with a link, send it along. The first one featured Joe Elliott of Def Leppard calling up an executive, pal-to-pal, and tipping him off to how great it is to fly Virgin to London. The premise alone is funny enough, but, fortunately, the writing lives up to the concept. A spot I’ve heard more recently features Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols ringing up Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. (Yes, rock and roll historians, the band was long ago signed to Virgin Records.) When Hastings asks Jones how he can use his frequent flier miles to further leverage his Virgin experience, Jones chews him out for caring—given all the money he makes—and hangs up on him.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

Going solo catches wing

I'm not normally one to commend eccentric daredevil behavior, but maybe Steve Fossett is on to something. On the same day that he completed his solo flight around the globe (sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, as if you couldn't tell from the logos plastered all over his plane), Fodor's Travel Publishing released a survey that traveling solo is gaining popularity. The survey, timed to the release of their new book Solo Traveler: Tales and Tips for Great Trips, found that about 4 of every 10 Americans has traveled alone for pleasure. (Though you don't have to. There's a company which will match you up with other travelers for companionship if you want it.)

Obviously there are some inherent risks, especially for women. But those of us who have spent hours trying to entertain young children on airplanes and in unfamiliar places fully understand the allure.

—Posted by Aaron Barr

Photo credit: Gibob/Agence France Presse/Newscom

Published on March 4, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

Ooh! Aah! What a banner

We’ve written about Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s online advertising for Virgin Atlantic before—specifically, the “complimentary weird dream interpreter.” But as we were checking our Yahoo! e-mail this morning, we spied the curious banner shown here. Moving our cursor across it, the hands moved invitingly. A click here and a click there brought forth moaning sounds. “Ooh!” “A bit to the right.” “Right there!” “Aah!” We were sort of glad we were at home and not at the office. You can check out the ad here (thanks, Jeff), and also see what other kinds of “inflight beauty therapy” Virgin offers in addition to massage by clicking here. Anyway, is it just us, or do the Yahoo! mail pages host some of the cooler banner ads out there? Maybe it’s just us.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on February 3, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

We'd rather jettison than jet

This is a picture of the premier copy of jetrosexual, a new custom magazine for Virgin Atlantic Airways, taken at its current residence—in our trash can.

It was handed to AdFreak for free in a newsstand in Grand Central yesterday, and we haven’t been the same since. At first, seeing a warm freebie in our lap all nice and red, with a cute little white airplane on it, made us feel all tingly. Then we actually started to read it, and we wondered how such an absolutely preposterously silly idea could get from the desks of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Virgin into the hands of thousands of innocent commuters.

As one of my colleagues put it, it makes you wonder if the whole trend toward out-of-the-box creative has jumped the shark.

The magazine is supposed to be devoted to the “new jet set,” or jetrosexuals, but it comes off as the ultimate vanity project—cool people talking to other cool people about why they’re so cool. As one Virgin traveler says, “The most interesting people I meet on planes aren’t rock stars (though I’ve met more than a few of them that way). They are people from completely different industries that I know nothing about who teach me all these amazing things I never knew I wanted to learn.”

How enlightened! Not slapping a few back with the Hives? Might as well chat with Bill Gates! Yeccch!

Other parts read like an episode of bird-watching gone horribly awry: “The jetrosexual expects to remain connected to the best culture and entertainment even at 37,000 ft. They demand parallel living conditions in the air: Stylishly-designed furnishings, a wide selection of on-demand digital entertainment and gourmet food. And if a massage is available, so much the better. ... Jetrosexuals will work as necessary on the plane, but they are no drones.” What’s next? In-depth pieces about their mating habits? An analysis of the sleep disorders they suffer from because of all those time changes?

We kept trying to find the joke, and then we found it, on the cover: We got this copy free, but it retails for $7.99.
 
—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on November 23, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic

All you have to do is dream

At AdFreak, we love to analyze dreams. So when we came across a recent online ad for Virgin Atlantic Airways that interpreted them for us, we were hooked.

First, we inputted “teeth falling out.” Given that teeth symbolize power and dominance, the “weird dream interpreter” tells us we “have a fear of losing control.” Never! Rest assured, the airline’s amenities kit comes with a complimentary toothbrush. (We give the ad credit for not only promoting the airline’s flat-bed seat, but also carrying a subconscious unique product message.)

Then, we decided to have some fun. Since the ads are the brainchild of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, we couldn’t resist asking what our dream about “being Alex Bogusky” means. The response: “That’s quite a bizarre dream. Clearly you’re in love with Alex. You should tell Alex about your feelings immediately to prevent future tension.” Interesting. Then we plugged in “being Jeff Benjamin.” Turns out we’re in love with CP+B’s interactive creative director, too. Which one is it? Alex or Jeff?

But when we typed in “being Chuck Porter,” the ad advised us to consult the “onboard drink mixologist.”

Another new ad for the airline had us cutting, blow-drying and styling a mop of purple hair to highlight Virgin’s complimentary haircuts for Upper Class passengers in its Heathrow Clubhouse. The face behind the hair: CP+B associate creative director Rob Reilly.

--Posted by Ann M. Mack

Published on November 19, 2004 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Virgin Atlantic