Page 49 - AdNews Magazine May-June 2022

Feature
Inside
the Qantas
The first Qantas commercial to be released since the pandemic digs deep into a longing for a return to life before the pandemic.
The message: Nothing more Australian than Qantas and nothing more nostalgic than the images and sounds of the choir first heard in 1987 in the first version of the commercial.
Advertising agency The Monkeys, by Accenture Song, replaced Mojo from the ‘80s when the vocals were sung by ad executive and jingle writer Allan Johnston working with business partner Alan Morris.
commercial
AdNews spoke to Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song:
What was the brief and how did you tackle it?
I Still Call Australia Home, made before
the pandemic took hold, pulls at heart strings.
The brief was to create something to mark the Qantas centenary, to con- nect Australians to the country we live in, but also to the spirit of travel we all share. And befitting any milestone anniversary, it needed to instill pride in the staff as well.
The Monkeys went back to Qantas with the recommendation that they already had the most valuable asset – it just needed to be brought into the current era. Peter Allen’s classic I still call Australia home was first used by Qantas 35 years ago, and over the years has become something of an unofficial national anthem.
We knew this couldn’t be just another iteration, the campaign needed to be a moment worthy of where the brand - and Australia - is today. It needed to connect us to our home, to represent our past, present and future. The First Nations story is woven into the narrative from the film’s beginning and throughout, as it has been to Qantas’ own story and jour- ney as a company. Underscoring that narrative is the suggestion that there is still much more progress to be made in our shared future.
Creating the campaign and writing the script involved bringing many elements together - all the incredible destinations, local and international,
WORDS BY
CHRIS PASH
www.adnews.com.au | May - June 2022 49