Avios: 'Anything Can Fly'

[Written January 2012]

(Agency: 101; Air date: 16/11/11; Length: 60 seconds)

Avios appear to have taken a gamble with their new TV advert, which debuted on 16 November 2011, because it isn’t entirely clear what goods or services are actually being advertised. 101, the company behind the ad, seem to be gambling that the viewer will either (a) decode the message imparted by the surreal images and the cryptic strapline ‘Anything can fly’ or (b) that the viewer’s curiosity will be piqued enough to visit the brand’s URL, displayed at the end, to find out.

The ad is certainly intriguing. It begins with a US-style petrol pump (incongruously located in the middle of the countryside) imitating an aeroplane in the distance by mysteriously coming to life and taking-off into the air, nozzles dragging behind it. Rotor-driven lawn mowers hover in the bright, sunny sky like helicopters, and a pair of CD stereo players (again, rotor-driven) buzz out of a darkened barn, startling a brood of chickens. A barbecue fitted with rockets proudly lifts off the ground like a shuttle, while steel shopping baskets float through the sky, held up by white balloons and tail rotors, seemingly driving a herd of sheep below. We see the CD stereos again, this time playfully skimming over a winding lake and the final image is of a washing machine cutting a vertical path through hazy sunshine, twisting, almost dementedly, higher and higher into the sky.

This surreal scene is brilliantly accompanied by an ethereal, otherworldly, almost eerie piece of music which mesmerizes me every time the advert comes on. In fact, the inclusion of this song may have been the ad company’s masterstroke because I did neither (a) nor (b) above, but rather (c) and searched YouTube for ‘Avios advert’ as I had to find out what the piece was called. Turns out it is ‘Underwaters’ by Iranian-born artist Leila Arab, originally released in 1998, and it was along the way that I discovered that Avios is the new branding for Air Miles. Judging by the amount of user comments which mention the advert, I was not the only person to follow this path.

The ad is particularly noteworthy because it stands out among the countless Christmas adverts, characterized by men and women, boys and girls, wrapped-up in woolly jumpers, scarves and mittens to brave the wintry weather and do their shopping (e.g. Argos, Morrisons). By contrast, this ad features no human presence, no voiceover and the action takes place among bright sunshine, blue skies and lush green countryside. This discord with the other seasonal ads seems to suggest an alternative, that if the consumer saves enough Air Miles, or Avios, next year they could be in sunnier climes after having said goodbye to the cold British Christmas (could Avios be an amalgam of adios and au revoir?).

For me, it is the music that makes this ad great. Good music has long been key to a successful advertising campaign. In the age of YouTube, the consumer can search for it instantly and an advertising company wise to this can earn respect from listeners, grateful that the ad introduced them to the song, and get their brand mentioned on comments pages and fora as well.