'Fly Better' says Emirates—and do stop gawping at the air hostesses

Emirates has released a new campaign with the tagline 'Fly Better' and an ad spot directed by Australia's Michael Gracey, director of The Greatest Showman. 

It features a passenger settling into his seat and being greeted by a personalised video message from an Emirates air hostess, who then launches into a slick dance routine complete with costume changes and role switches as a Bollywood dancer, a samurai swordswoman, a football player and a hip hop dancer, meant to show off the range of options available on Emirates' in-flight entertainment system, 'ice'. 

As far as representing the airline's promise to deliver top-quality travel experiences, it does the job. We're reminded in the press release that Emirates was the first airline to introduce personal screens in every class, bring bars and shower spas on planes and introduce "game changing" products like "virtual windows". (Ad Nut is not on board with this. Next it will be virtual nuts.) Whether the 'Fly Better' campaign is truly a "bold new brand promise", as the airline claims, however, seems questionable. 

Ad Nut also has an objection to the hammy acting in the spot's final sequence, where the air hostess featured on-screen appears in real life to deliver the passenger a drink. Unless this is going to be an experience available to every passenger (or even every passenger in the upper classes), it seems like false advertising.

The reaction of the woman accompanying the male passenger, which Emirates calls its "trademark light humour", is also cringeworthy. Seeing him staring open-mouthed at the hostess, she leans over and pushes his chin closed to remind him to stop looking so — surprised? Lecherous? Idiotic? — before shaking her head at the air hostess as if to say 'Huh, men. What can you do?!' Whatever, it's embarrasing. 

A print ad from the campaign
 

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