TV Commercial Review
Memorable
Effective
Style
Heart or Humor
Execution
Controversial
SAS, Scandinavian Airlines, launched a TV commercial that soon became the most controversial advertising of the moment. In this advert, there are several Scandinavian stereotypes challenged like democracy (invented in Greece), rye bread (imported from Turkey), open sandwiches (take from the Netherlands), Danish pastries (get from Austria), licorice (imported from China), windmills (invented in Persia), and both cycling (barrow from Germany). Even for the “empowering the women’s rights movement,” the ad gives credit to the United States…
The marketing message is “SAS is a Scandinavian airline that brings travelers to, from and within Scandinavia. We stand by the core message in the commercial, that travel enriches us.
When we travel, we influence our surroundings, and we are influenced by others. The experiences we bring back from our travels inspire us as individuals, but also our society”.
This video becomes quickly viral, but in this case, the virality didn’t indicate the popularity.
Swedish Democrats’ Richard Jomshof said on Facebook that the video was “really devilish nonsense and self-hatred.”
After a significant backlash from social media users, the company makes a statement:
“When analyzing the pattern and volume of reactions we have reason to suspect an online attack and that the campaign has been hijacked. We do not want to risk being a platform for views that we do not share. We have therefore temporarily removed the film from our channels and we are currently evaluating the next step.”
After a few days, SAS publishes a shorter 45-sec version of the commercial, but also re-publish the original extended version with comments disabled.
I always said that bad publicity is just bad publicity.
Credits
Creative Director: Robert Cerkez
Account Director: Morten Fabricius
Account Manager: Mette Kruse
Head of Brand Activation and Social: Morten Saxnæs
Media Strategist: Rasmus Philip
Art Director: Lea Flodgaard, Katrine Winblad
Copywriter: Mathias Trads, Kristel Krøier, Joachim Juel Ulrich
Agency Producer: Filippa Borg
Graphic Designer: Anders Martin Jensen
Interactive Producer: Palle Aufeldt
Production Company: New Land
Director: Gustav Johansson
Executive Producer: Sara Samsøe
Producer: Adam Holmström
DOP: Jasper Spanning
Focus Puller: Peter Topsøe, Henrik Lyngbo, Stickan Olsson
Editor: Sam Ostrove
Editor Assistant: Martin Zaar
Colourist/Grader: Nicke Johansson
VFX & Online: Kalle Lundberg
VFX Animation: Per Helin
Music Composer: Pierre Riddez
Sound Design: Anton Ahlberg
VO: Elisabeth Garden
