It's really Jennifer Aniston endorsing this airline

 

Emirates Airline has released the first official look at its lighthearted advertising campaign featuring new brand ambassador Jennifer Aniston.

Emirates teased two images from the advert via its Twitter account yesterday before releasing a full, one-minute commercial online. In it, Aniston peeks into an airplane toilet, dressed in a white robe, clutching a loofah and a bag of toiletries. She then runs up the aisle of the darkened plane past sleeping passengers to a galley, where she asks the gathered flight attendants where she can find the shower. “There’s no shower,” a flight attendant tells her.

“Well, I’m going to look pretty silly dressed like this going to the bar,” Aniston says.

When the attendants reply that all they have are hot towels and nuts, Aniston mentions that Emirates planes have showers and bars and is told: “This isn’t an Emirates plane, ma’am”.

“Why are you all laughing like that?” she says, as one of the attendants scoffs and says “you’re killing me”.

Aniston then wakes up in her own private suite in an Emirates First Class cabin, and is next shown – freshly showered – tucking into a drink and a snack in the brightly-lit Onboard Lounge, before a sympathetic and attentive bartender. “It was such a nightmare, I was on the plane and it was nothing like this,” she tells him, smiling: “Hey, is there someone we could talk to about maybe flying this around a little bit longer? Like maybe an hour?”

The ad then shows an Emirates plane flying in the air and the tag line: “Wake up to flying as it should be.”

Just as The National predicted when the news of the campaign was announced, Emirates has capitalised on the American actress’s approachable, comedic persona, cemented in 10 years on the popular sitcom Friends and in a succession of big-screen romantic comedies.

In August the New York Post reported that Aniston was paid US$5 million (Dh18 million) for the TV and online campaign.

At the time, Boutros Boutros, the airline’s divisional SVP for corporate communications, marketing and brand, would not discuss details of the contract. Yesterday, he said: “Jennifer Aniston’s appeal and effortless connection with a global audience makes her the perfect choice for our campaign. As one of the busiest women in Hollywood, Aniston, like many of our customers, enjoys downtime only when she is travelling. At Emirates, we ensure the experience is an exceptional one.

“In a departure from the usual airline industry ads, we chose to take a humorous approach to showcase the amazing products we offer on board. We couldn’t think of anyone better suited for the role than Jennifer Aniston and we wrote the script with her in mind.

Her professionalism and comedic talent shone on the set and we are very pleased with the outcome,” he added. The ad was directed by Bryan Buckley, an industry veteran acclaimed for his Super Bowl ads and a 2013 Oscar nominee for his live-action short Asad. RKCR/Y&R London developed the concept and collaborated on the script with Buckley and Emirates’ in-house advertising team.

Aniston, who is currently filming the ensemble comedy Mother’s Day, wed the writer and actor Justin Theroux during the summer. The pair made their debut as a married couple last week at the premiere for the second season of his television show, The Leftovers.