sarah buxton o'hagan : austin powers virgin shaglantic campaign
Only
Virgin Atlantic airport check-in staff wore Austin Power's groovy black glasses
and T-shirts. Oh Baby!
On
the 10th May 1999 in Los Angeles, the campaign was officially launched. Richard
Branson and Mike Myers unveiled and christened the 747-400 you see above "Austin
Powered". That was of course, a great excuse for a party! The guests and
press crews grooved to the movie soundtrack and had a very shagadelic time.
They also got a sneak preview of the Virgin/Austin advertising campaign.
Passengers
traveling on "Austin Powered" were even lucky enough to have Austin
wish them "sweet dreams" when they pulled down their window shades.
One
of our gleaming 747-400s was truly "Austin Powered" inside and out
and could be caught on flights between London and the United States.
This partnership was destined to be - as we discovered when
we saw the likeness between Austin Powers and our outrageous boss Richard
Branson as seen in this party invitation.
Billboards
and posters began appearing on May 11, 1999 and they looked something like these.
They could be seen in Virgin Atlantic's seven U.S. markets - New York, Boston,
Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Orlando
Running
on major stations in the same markets as the outdoor advertising was a massive
radio campaign starring Austin Powers. Very shagadelic!
Virgin Freeway members enjoyed a taste of
Austin Powers through their Virgin Muse newsletter.
Also
running in the same markets as the radio and outdoor was an opening day newspaper
campaign in all the major dailies.
Postcards
were seen on Max Racks stands in all the coolest bars and restaurants
in the Virgin Atlantic gateway markets.
And
if that wasn't enough, the Virgin Atlantic Vacations team offered the exclusive
"London's Swinging Baby" vacation package that included shagadelic Austin Powers
eye glasses and T-shirts. Groovy baby, Yeah!
For
a really shagadelic experience customers could check out Virgin Atlantic and
Austin online.
People could enjoy a virtual experience of the Cannes Film Festival launch party
with a live cybercast brought to them by Virgin Atlantic.
Alternatively, online banner advertising led customers to www.austinpowers.com
where they could download an interactive cyber show featuring Austin Powers
and Richard Branson.
Not
only was Virgin Atlantic Airways "Austin Powered", but of course, Austin preferred
his martini shaken with Virgin Vodka. For people in the UK Virgin Net was the
exclusive place to go online for Austin Powers information. And Virgin Megastores,
Virgin Cola and Virgin Cinemas also featured their own swinging Austin promotions.
The
Cannes Film Festival, May 15, 1999 was the world premier for "The Spy Who
Shagged Me". At the center of this world class fete was Virgin Cola and
Virgin Vodka - shaken AND stirred baby - in Virgin Shaglantic cocktail shakers
at the "Virgin Mile High Club" VIP Lounge. Oh Behave!
Revelers
sporting Austin tattoos could toss Virgin Shaglantic beach balls on the beach
at Cannes, while their Virgin martini glasses rested on Virgin Shaglantic coasters.
And when they weren't topless, they could wear exclusive Virgin Shaglantic T-shirts.
