The £6 million campaign, created by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, features Relax, the classic 80s track by Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
The 60-second ad opens with a headline on the front page of The Sun about the miners' strike. It then follows a yuppie walking into the airport talking on his mobile.
As the music kicks in, the airline’s glamorous hostesses stride through the airport dressed in red high heels and red uniform to jaw-dropping gazes.
One passenger is heard saying: I need to change my job as his colleague replies: I need to change my ticket."
The ad closes on a shot of the Flying Lady, painted on the side of the Virgin Atlantic 747 plane, who winks at the camera before the endline: "Still red hot."
Paul Dickinson, the sales and marketing director of Virgin Atlantic, said: "When our competitors are feeling down in the dumps, and we enter into a year of economic uncertainty, you can always trust Virgin Atlantic to raise spirits and stare into the future with as much optimism as we did back in 1984."
Comments
BA's version would be a gaggle of sour faced wrinkly stocking wearing old bags trudging through the airport terminal. Nice one Virgin!
I love the attention to detail, and it's nice to see people smiling
We're not even a week into the new year and already we're seeing great, fun advertising. Let's hope it continues.
Is that Maurice Saatchi at the end?
This is easily my favourite ad so far of 2009. Great mix of nostalgia, attention to detail \(whatever happened to Our Price?) and seminal soundtrack. Is a longer version available?
Sounds like the stewardesses are so hot, one of them spontaneously combusted en route to Chicago.
Can't believe such blatantly sexist advertising in 2009 - mind you, what else should we expect from Sir Dick?
The representation of workers as providing sexual gratification for others not only promotes workplace harassment but a culture whereby people are expected not only to be proficient at what they do but are tacitly expected to ‘please’ clients in other ways, (i.e. wearing make up, tight outfits, not objecting to harassment etc). It is a dark day when workers and women’s rights are so degraded, particularly as the early 1980’s was a time when women and workers all over the world were fighting for anti discrimination and sexual harassment laws to be implemented, lest we forget. The steward’s role as a valued professional member of staff and the occupation of service industries that are predominately made up of a female workforce are completely devalued here. RKCR and Virgin will claim that this is all in jest and if you don’t get the ‘joke’ you’re a part of the P.C. gone mad brigade. What is truly disrespectful here is how painful this advertisement could be for the existing Virgin Atlantic steward workforce who have not only have had their occupation so reduced by their superiors but who will now be inevitably (sized up by passengers) and compared to these deplorable representations.
Great Ad, but pity that the makers could not get their facts right! on 22nd June 1984 there was no mobile phone network in the UK, and the handset that the "yuppie" drops had not been built. The first mobile call made in the uk was by Ernie Wise on the 1st Jan 1985 \(over 6 months later) on the Vodaphone network. As I said good ad, but pity someone got paid a lot of money to be factually incorrect!
Virgin Atlantic are doing a competition to remake this ad. If your version of the ad gets voted the best you get to fly on a re-creation of the inaugural flight, to go the 25th birthday party in Manhattan and get a night's luxury accomodation.
They've not given you long, only about 12 days, so check out http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/redhotremake/index.jsp for all the details.
Comments
Andrew Chapman - 05/01/2009
BA's version would be a gaggle of sour faced wrinkly stocking wearing old bags trudging through the airport terminal. Nice one Virgin!
Lisa England - 05/01/2009
I love the attention to detail, and it's nice to see people smiling
Tim Mears - 05/01/2009
We're not even a week into the new year and already we're seeing great, fun advertising. Let's hope it continues.
David Anderson - 06/01/2009
Is that Maurice Saatchi at the end?
NICOLA SAVAGE - 07/01/2009
This is easily my favourite ad so far of 2009. Great mix of nostalgia, attention to detail \(whatever happened to Our Price?) and seminal soundtrack. Is a longer version available?
Alastair MacDonald - 11/01/2009
Sounds like the stewardesses are so hot, one of them spontaneously combusted en route to Chicago. Can't believe such blatantly sexist advertising in 2009 - mind you, what else should we expect from Sir Dick?
Merryn Smith - 17/01/2009
The representation of workers as providing sexual gratification for others not only promotes workplace harassment but a culture whereby people are expected not only to be proficient at what they do but are tacitly expected to ‘please’ clients in other ways, (i.e. wearing make up, tight outfits, not objecting to harassment etc). It is a dark day when workers and women’s rights are so degraded, particularly as the early 1980’s was a time when women and workers all over the world were fighting for anti discrimination and sexual harassment laws to be implemented, lest we forget. The steward’s role as a valued professional member of staff and the occupation of service industries that are predominately made up of a female workforce are completely devalued here. RKCR and Virgin will claim that this is all in jest and if you don’t get the ‘joke’ you’re a part of the P.C. gone mad brigade. What is truly disrespectful here is how painful this advertisement could be for the existing Virgin Atlantic steward workforce who have not only have had their occupation so reduced by their superiors but who will now be inevitably (sized up by passengers) and compared to these deplorable representations.
Martin Wallace - 18/01/2009
Great Ad, but pity that the makers could not get their facts right! on 22nd June 1984 there was no mobile phone network in the UK, and the handset that the "yuppie" drops had not been built. The first mobile call made in the uk was by Ernie Wise on the 1st Jan 1985 \(over 6 months later) on the Vodaphone network. As I said good ad, but pity someone got paid a lot of money to be factually incorrect!
Rich Brown - 04/06/2009
Virgin Atlantic are doing a competition to remake this ad. If your version of the ad gets voted the best you get to fly on a re-creation of the inaugural flight, to go the 25th birthday party in Manhattan and get a night's luxury accomodation. They've not given you long, only about 12 days, so check out http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/redhotremake/index.jsp for all the details.