According to Virgin Atlantic, "1 in 3 people spend their holiday in the office," a statistic that helped to formulate its parody of office vacations.
In vintage fashion, the ad begins by panning down from the sky to a scene of an especially dreary office. A cheerful narrator is accompanied by a retro soundtrack -- as she sarcastically sells viewers on all the draws that work has when one could be away. Zooming into scenes of dumpsters outback and cars stuck in a roundabout outside, she considers the amazing views someone has access to when they take an office vacation.
Next, she moves onto the food, with the camera focusing in on a bowl of unappetizing soup in the microwave and some low-cost instant coffee. She then considers the luxury of elevators and public transit, as well as the "happening nightlife" that's actually overtime work. With this, Virgin Atlantic cleverly shows viewers why they should get out of the office for their holidays.
Humorous Office Vacation Ads
Virgin Atlantic Prompts Viewers to Get Away from Work During Holidays
Trend Themes
1. Office Vacation Parody Ads - Creating humorous and tongue-in-cheek videos promoting vacations from work to draw more eyeballs to holiday destinations.
2. Retro Advertising Techniques - The use of vintage music, fonts, and styles in advertising to appeal to nostalgia and sentimentality.
3. Reframing Vacation as an Escape From Work - Highlighting the product's value proposition by framing vacation as an escape from the dreariness of work life.
Industry Implications
1. Travel and Hospitality - The use of humorous advertisements in travel and hospitality industry campaigns to capture target audiences
2. Marketing and Advertising - Utilizing retro advertising as a technique to increase the appeal and credibility of a brand.
3. Corporate Training Services - Providing corporate training services that prioritize creating a work environment that allows employees to take a true vacation, leading to higher job satisfaction and productivity.