Global heroes: Airline crew is ready for close-up

Crawley, UK – With a new tv advertising campaign that casts its employees as superheroes, Virgin Atlantic has become the latest airline to build its brand with storytelling.

The new campaign, Flying in the Face of Ordinary, takes the form of a film trailer. It retains the glamorous image of the cabin crew promoted in previous Virgin Atlantic adverts, but with a heightened cinematic feel and a Hollywood-ready score.

The ad introduces viewers to a group of children who exhibit supernatural gifts. Hundreds of comic book plotlines suggest that this foretells future greatness. All grown up, our heroes are capable of amazing feats that stand in sharp contrast to the generally banal reality of air travel.

The ad has been a hit, with nearly half a million YouTube views in a week. It follows last autumn’s Air New Zealand safety video, which featured Lord of the Rings characters demonstrating safety procedures, as a successful use of Faction Marketing in the airline industry.