British Airways – Face (1989, UK) [4K 60FPS Upscale]

Often considered a television advertising classic and ranked 62 of Channel 4’s 100 Greatest TV Ads in 2000, British Airways produced a phenomenally beautiful advert representing the diversification of their airline. We see a number of people dressed in all red, blue, black, and white clothing each forming the features of a human face such as the mouth, eyes, nose and ears trekking across vast plains of land. On top of this, we see shots of ordinary people from cultures all around the world unite as an overlay of the British flag waves in the background, with shots of the British Airways crew being caught in the middle of it. Over the footage, we hear a voiceover say, “Every year, the world’s favourite airline brings 24 million people, together.“ Eventually, the four groups of colours come together and form a whole human face, giving us a final wink before turning into a large impression of the globe as the camera slowly pans out, revealing a canyon in the backdrop. The British Airways logo finally appears at the end accompanied by the tagline: “The world’s favourite airline.“ Soundtrack: “Aria on Air“ by Yanni and Malcolm McLaren, which is an adaptation of the Flower Duet from Léo Delibes’ 1883 opera Lakmé. Directed by Hugh Hudson at Hudson Film Ltd, for Saatchi & Saatchi. Winner of a 1990 Bronze British Arrows Award which, in my opinion, is the very least it deserves. A full list of credits can be found here: Upscaled into 4K and 60FPS using AI software. Original for comparison: #britishadvertising #advertising #4kupscale