Innuendo can sell anything, even AirAsia flights

There’s a lot of talk about AirAsia’s “brand DNA” shining through in its latest campaign, but Ad Nut wonders if having a rather staid 1950s sense of humour is really something the self-proclaimed ‘INNOVATIVE’ and ‘BOLD’ (their caps, not Ad Nut’s) airline should be telling people about.

AirAsia is promoting its new ‘Holiday Quickie’, and before even viewing the video Ad Nut knows exactly what’s coming: the same old tired sexual innuendo, albeit with some reasonable ‘Carry On’-esque acting.

The idea is apparently rooted in the insight that Singaporeans struggle with work-life balance and are reluctant to book a short break. Fair enough, but having tree-hopped the web regularly, Ad Nut is convinced the idea of the quick getaway has been around as long as peanut butter, as has booking such holidays through a mobile app.

The campaign, created by The Teeth in partnership with W Communications, will reach consumers on digital, social and traditional channels, including cinema and digital OOH, with two more videos to come. Ad Nut hopes for more, but expects more of the same.

Some consumers may well let out a brief titter, a puritanical giggle. Anyone under 35 will likely roll their eyes at the other uninspiring trope of plugged-in, zoned out teens. There’s nothing Ad Nut would like more than a quick break to a palm tree in the Indonesian archipelago, but Ad Nut doesn’t need a clichéd ad to know how to do it.

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.