British Airways face advertisement

The British Airways "Face" Advertisement is a television commercial campaign by British Airways in 1989. The commercial was made by advertising firm Saatchi and Saatchi, and is often considered to be a television commercial classic.

Production

The advertisement was produced in the US state of Utah, with thousands of extras participating in the advertisement. Places of production includes Salt Lake City, Lake Powell, and the salt flats near Moab, Utah

Rundown

Viewers first see a group of swimmers swimming, all wearing red clothing. A close-up of one of the swimmer's lips appear, and then, a quick cut into an aerial view of the swimmers walking out of the water in the shape of a human lip.

Afterwards, viewers see a group of people, wearing blue and black, walking on the streets of a city, forming the shape of an eye. And then, a group of people walking on a grassland, forming the shape of an ear. Afterwards, these groups of people (with the exception of the group that formed the ear, perhaps because they will eventually form the face instead) gather on a salt flat, and a scene is shown where people from all walks of life, from all cultures around the world unite together, with the British Union Jack in the background, and British Airways crew members in the midst of it.

The scene then cuts to an aerial view of the face, which smiles and winks. Afterwards, the face turns into the impression of the globe.

The sound track is Yanni's Aria.

Versions

There are three versions of the commercial. One is the original version, which was recut into another version around 1994 because new uniform was introduced for British Airways crew member. Another version was aired during Christmas, where the ending was replaced with a child hugging Santa Claus and a cut into a view of Earth from space.

Honours

The ad is often considered to be a British Airways Classic, and it is ranked 62 on the 100 Greatest TV Ads programme aired by Channel 4

External links

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxs106rp5RQ BA "Face" Commercial on YouTube]