Recently both Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific airways have been running some cool ads on TV trying to differentiate their brands and introduce new products. Interestingly, although not referred to directly, both feature a blatant James Bond 007 theme with suave business men being served by attractive air stewardesses…
Virgin Atlantic – ‘Your airline’s either got it or it hasn’t’
In homage to an opening sequence of a 007 film, Virgin has clearly spent a pretty penny on the high production values. If it weren’t tongue in cheek I bet there would be an uproar in certain circles but I’m sure Richard Branson wouldn’t mind a bit. Having flown Premium Economy on Virgin recently I’d say they’re miles ahead of the competition in terms of presentation.
Cathay Pacific – The new Business Class
Cathay Pacific gives a convincing take on the classic Q gadget talk when introducing their new business class seats with a femme fatale thrown in for good measure! Less glitzy than Virgin but more in keeping with their rather more traditional brand. Well executed and having tried one of the seats (on the ground) I’d say worthy of attention.
They’re very cool commercials but pretty weird that both airlines happened to choose the same theme – one has to wonder how much of a coincidence this is and whether MGM, who holds the rights to the James Bond franchise, are very happy about it.
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