British Airways and American Airlines - British Famous

British Airways and American Airlines - British Famous

Proving the effectiveness of both international partnerships and the use of humour in advertising British Airways, American Airlines and VisitBritain, the official tourism website of Great Britain, have teamed up to spend $3.7 Million in a very funny year-long campaign entitled “British Famous”

The aim of the campaign is to encourage more Americans to travel to the U.K on vacation and of course to fly with either British Airways or American Airlines.

Headlined by popular, U.K.-based, cult comedienne, Diane Morgan - who is probably best know for her dimwitted Philomena Cunk character on BBC2 TV - the campaign highlights Morgan’s efforts to become famous in America, by doing things she thinks Americans will like.

The title ‘British Famous’ denotes the fact that she’s only popular in Britain, but is as yet unknown outside the UK. At the same time, the name also applies to the sights that form the backdrop to the campaign.

The first two spots saw Morgan pursuing a career as a self-help guru in Wales and a hard-partying rock star in Manchester. The latest one shows her trying to become an action hero by persuading a couple in a remote Scottish cottage to take part in a road chase scene, complete with a mountain explosion all the way at the end.

The fourth one, due for release in the next few weeks, sees Morgan play the role of a foodie in London.

Designed to highlight Morgan’s uniquely British sense of humor while cheekily “having a go” at the world’s perception of American fame, the spots highlight the many cool, unusual destinations featured on the VisitBritain website while steering visitors towards targeted travel offers for both carriers.

The brainchild of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, the promotion is the first joint, three-way partnership between British Airways, American Airlines and VisitBritain and has already been generating loads of positive buzz online.

On YouTube Morgan’s The Self-Help Guru clip has been viewed more that 6,000 times and The Rock Star spot is already well on its way to 3K views in just under a month.

Profiled on news websites such as Travel HQ, TravelPulse.com, TravelMole.com and TheDrum.com , the cheeky, muchbuzzed about campaign looks to be a slam dunk for all involved, especially travellers with a fondness for Morgan’s decidedly off the wall sense of humour.

Key Take-Away

Once again funny sells, and this campaign successfully plays on the kind of off the wall humour the Brits are known for. In particular the campaign draws on what Inc.com has referred to as the three elements of Millennial humour - absurdity, universality and self depreciation.

But humour in this case is really just a way to keep people watching. In particular to put ideas in North American Travellers’ minds about what there is to see and do in the UK, with of course a handy link to go and experience it for themselves by booking a flight with either British Airways or American.