Badvert of the Month: British Airways

Company: British Airways

Location: Youtube

Sustainable travel..  what?

In this meant-to-be-funny advert aired on Youtube, the airline British Airways portrays a discussion between two couples about their different destination of choice for a holiday. The first couple proudly declares that after having considered going abroad for a holiday, that they opted instead for a ‘staycation’ this year rather than going on holiday abroad. The impression given is that in doing so they are being ‘worthy’ but dull and are the object of the joke, made to act and appear ‘uncool’, what might be called ‘nerdy’. When the other ‘cool’ couple replies that they booked with British Airways (BA) to travel to St Lucia in the Caribbean, the first pair are made to feel ridiculous and cheated for selecting the domestic, responsible travel option.

The clear message behind this BA advert is that whoever decides to holiday at home in the UK and avoid flying to a far-away destination - for whatever reason - is a loser. 

The ad ends up featuring the cool couple in a tropical destination captioned with an invitation to grab tickets before the sale of flights end. BA’s approach is revealing, in that it shows them addressing the potential threat to their business model of a rise in popularity of holidaying at home and a potential behavioural shift away from mass flying. In fact, the advert could fall foul of mainstream TV broadcast regulations because as well as advertising their own flights, it is, in effect, a political attack on new attitudes in favour of more sustainable travel.  

Cool kids don’t fly

With growing public concern about the climate crisis, (a recent YouGov survey reported that 60% of Brits view the climate as a main issue of concern), it is no surprise that an increasingly large number of people choose to make the personal choice to stop or strongly reduce their flying habits. YouGov also found that 60% supported introducing a frequent flier levy. Elsewhere, a European Investment Bank (EIB) climate survey found out that 42% of European citizens would holiday in their own, or an adjacent country to cut carbon emissions. And, even after covid related travel restrictions are removed, more generally 37% of Chinese people, 22% of Europeans and 22% of Americans say they will now actually avoid flying due to the climate emergency. 

Changes in public perceptions of flying have led to practical behavioural shifts too, such as that initiated by the Swedish-born movement ‘flygskam’ - literally translating to ‘flight shame’ - where people aware of the damage caused by flying become uncomfortable doing so and are less likely to fly as a result. The practice has now spread to various countries including France, Germany and New Zealand. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed on travelling abroad have given a massive push to the “staycation” trend - already rising in popularity before the pandemic. If this has proven to be a blessing for the local tourism industry - and the environment - it has been less so for the aviation and global tourist industries who have increased efforts to promote international travel again as restrictions on travel are removed.

British Airways may attempt to denigrate the rising success of domestic tourism, openly ridiculed in their advertising campaign, but this could well be driven by an awareness, deep down, that these behavioural shifts present an existential threat to their business model and a challenge to convert the industry. 

As long as such thinly veiled issue-based, political campaigning - under the guise of advertising - is allowed it risks significantly delaying the necessary shifts towards sustainable travel options.

Company Background:

British Airways is the UK’s number two airline behind easyJet. In 2011, BA merged with Iberia to form the International Airlines Group - the world’s third and Europe’s second largest airline (based on an annual revenue). The company registered the largest ever revenue - $1 billion - on a single air route (New York - London) in a year.

The airline was created in 1974 from the merger of the UK’s two largest airlines at the time, BOAC and BEA. The company moved from its State-owned status to a private company in 1987 as part of the Conservative government’s privatisation agenda, but still enjoys all kinds of state support, not least a pledge of a £2 billion public loan during the pandemic. 

The airline has repeatedly made use of its British trademark to appeal to customers. In 2019, to mark its 100th century anniversary (BA is a legacy of the Aircraft and Travel Limited airline formed during the First World War) it convened an audience of famous British actors and artists for a huge marketing campaign aimed to be “a love letter to Britain”. The actors reported being proud to be part of such a campaign given their close ties with the company. The advertisements’ tagline was: “British Airways. Made by Britain”.

In 2021, the British airline ended its contract with marketing agency WPP to recruit Uncommon Creative Studio. The agency’s co-founder, Natalie Graeme, celebrated the win by stating: “British Airways is an iconic global brand – one that represents and champions British originality at its finest. Connecting Britain with the world and the world with Britain has never felt more welcome and more challenging as travel resumes”.