New Virgin Atlantic Advertising Campaign pokes fun at British Airways

Virgin Atlantic Airways is to launch a new Upper Class Suite press advertising campaign. The campaign will run as colour half-pages in broadsheet UK national press and double page spreads in business titles such as The Economist, Time and Newsweek from Friday 13 February.

The idea behind the press campaign came from thinking about what sort of person still wouldn't choose Virgin's innovative Upper Class Suite. 

The fun campaign shows three different people who claim they don't fly Virgin for the airline believe to be the most ridiculous of reasons . In the first, we see a very prim, straight-laced business woman who claims that she "finds the extra inches intimidating", referring to the 7.5 extra inches in length and 13 extra inches in width than BA's Clubworld seat. The second advert features a conservative-looking, stuck-in-the-mud businessman who says he would "rather go backwards" than fly with Virgin Atlantic (all Virgin's seats face forward whereas many of BA's face backwards). The third advertisement features a man with bloodshot eyes looking shattered who claims to "enjoy his insomnia" as Virgin claims its passengers are telling them they can get a better night's sleep in the Upper Class Suite.

The print campaign, produced by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, is the latest part of a multi-media marketing campaign based around the Upper Class Suite. The £5m campaign includes television and print advertising, internet marketing and a range of other activities.

Alison Copus, Marketing Director for Virgin Atlantic commented:

"This advertising campaign is acerbic and funny. Our advertisements show that our product is so good you'd have to be a business dunce not to fly it. The facts about the Upper Class Suite really speak for themselves and make competitor products pale by comparison. We have communicated this in a way that will really entertain and amuse business flyers."

James Murphy, the Managing Director of Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R, commented:

"Having launched the Upper Class Suite with the 'Get your beauty sleep' TV campaign, the challenge was to support this activity with a press campaign, which would deliver the key product benefits of the Suite in an impactful and irreverent way."

The advertising campaign supports the launch of Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Suite. The product consists of a reclining leather seat for take off, a place to sit and eat a proper meal opposite your partner, one of the longest fully flat beds in the world with a proper mattress for sleeping on, a private onboard bar to drink at with your friends, a private massage room and four limousines per return trip.