[Orchids & Onions] Plaudits for the Proteas as Jen takes off again

Emirates Airline is a huge global player and, a year ago, they brought in Jennifer Aniston to punt their brand in a commercial which went viral and generated a significant amount of buzz in cyberspace. Well, Jen is back and, as a fan of hers (although, funnily enough I thought Friends was a yawn) I was interested to see the new ad.

We see her drying her hair in one of the Emirates First Class bathrooms (you can shower in these at 35,000 feet… a colleague who has done so says it was an experience to talk about) – and then she goes back to her suite (these are more than just mere seats) and finds a young boy playing there. She accompanies him back to his family – who are in Economy Class – stopping off to get two carrot juices (he wants to be a pilot, he tells her, and he needs good eyesight) at the sumptuous Business Class bar.

Then they sit and chat atop the wide staircase between the upper and lower decks on the Emirates Airbus A380, before Jen surprises the living daylights out of the kid’s dad and mom when she makes her appearance. Then she sits with the family and enjoys the entertainment and games system in Economy Class. When asked if she’d like to go back to her seat, she says: “No, I’m good” and continues to play.

We see that she has swopped places with the amazed mom, who is seen settling into the First Class suite and closing its doors. What makes it work is that Aniston plays her part so well. But also, at every stage during the trip from the front to the back of the A380, Emirates points out the features: The showers for premium passengers, the bar, the entertainment systems.

And I like the touch at the end where she stays put in what has deservedly earned the epithet “Cattle Class” because it implies that Economy on Emirates is just that much better than in other places. Well, if Jen’s happy there… The ad works because it’s natural, it’s charming and it showcases the product. The TV commercial was directed by industry veteran and Oscar-nominee Bryan Buckley, who is acclaimed for his numerous Super Bowl ads.

The script and creative concept was a collaboration between Buckley and Emirates’ in-house advertising team and produced in conjunction with the WPP Group.

Overall, it deserves an Orchid because it does the double job of entertaining and selling.

Screengrabs from the ad.

I must say, watching the exuberance of the young Proteas cricket team in their famous, series-winning victory over Australia in Durban on Wednesday night, I felt a slight breeze of the sort of optimism which is in such short supply in South Africa these days.

These were men who are friends, who go over the top together to tackle the enemy head-on and they celebrate each success fiercely. The team spirit is something to behold and is easily the best in any national sporting set-up. These guys genuinely live the “all-for-one and one-for-all” creed. It’s also remarkable (although it really shouldn’t be) about how much of a “Rainbow Nation” they all are. And the issue of quotas seems miles away.

Ditto with the fans in Durban on Wednesday night: everyone was celebrating success; race was a long, long, way away. So I was drawn to Cricket SA’s simple “That’s Our Game” TV ad, which has been running through this Australian series.

It features the players and the fans sharing the love for the game which is one of the things we do well as South Africans and which has the power to unite us. I know it sounds mushy and maudlin, but we need more inspirational teams, and ads, like this.

Orchids to Cricket SA and the Proteas. Nice one, boys…

So, when last did you hear the English language mangled. Last week, Thursday, maybe? At the risk of sounding grumpy, I am not even going to bother pointing out the errors in the sentence above. As my first editor, Sandy Robertson, used to say, if you don’t understand language, get a job with the Post Office.

However, I am so tired of bad usage in the marketing business, because that is all about communicating.

The latest abomination comes from Renault Randburg in an ad in our local knock-and-drop newspaper for its first birthday sale. Every single plural of a car name has an apostrophe: Clio’s; Sandero’s, Captur’s; Duster’s and Kadjar’s. That is not even close to correct English.

Just because in Afrikaans it is common practice to put in an apostrophe before the ‘s’ in plurals doesn’t mean you can do it in English.

This ad was put together by an agency (I don’t know which) but had, surely, to be approved by the client. It makes me wonder what else they don’t know.

Onions to Renault Randburg and whoever did this. OK – you may not start writing to tell me I should get a life… or better still, maybe I should get two life’s.

But it’s a rough ride when car ad copywriters get possessive.

*Note that Bizcommunity staff and management do not necessarily share the views of its contributors - the opinions and statements expressed herein are solely those of the author.*