Over the past few years airline advertising has been all too predictable. Smiling cabin crew, various takes on in-flight service, and the mandatory ‘beauty’ shots of flying metal.
Qantas has continued to back a winner with variations of “I Still Call Australia Home” (and why not), but hasn’t taken the campaign anywhere new. Certainly it’s hard think of any advertising comparable to British Airway’s iconic ‘Face’ and ‘Island’ TVCs of some twenty years ago.
So it’s inspiring to see Air France’s new global commercial which aired for the first time last weekend in France.
Called ‘Soaring’ (‘L’envol’ in French), the spot according to Air France’s corporate PR was directed by French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, who based it on an extract from his ballet “Le Parc” to deliver a poetic metaphor of flight.
The commercial was shot by award-winning cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine in February in the Moroccan desert, in a single sequence, with no special effects, on a 400 square metre mirror, which only reflected the sky and the dancers. The choreography is accompanied by the adagio from Piano Concerto No. 23 by Mozart performed by the Symphony Orchestra "Les Siècles" with pianist Vanessa Wagner and directed by the conductor François-Xavier Roth.
The tagline loosely translates as “Make the sky the best place on earth”. Very nice.
GM