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Qantas still calls Australia home via The Monkeys

Qantas has launched a new campaign featuring Peter Allen’s 1980 song ‘I Still Call Australia Home’ via Accenture Interactive’s The Monkeys.

The song has been featured in Qantas advertisements for over 35 years with this campaign marking the first time it has recreated the original TVC concept first released in 1987.

The three-minute main film in the campaign features Australian celebrities such as Adam Goodes, Ash Barty, Kylie Minogue and Troye Sivan. The song is sung by a variety of people, while showcasing a numerous locations both domestically and internationally: from Uluru to Sydney to Hobart, as well as Tokyo, London and Los Angeles.

At the campaign launch event today, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “We filmed this ad in 2019 and we have kept it in the can for over two years because the time has never been quite right… It was made when times were very different. But I think it more resonates now.”

On ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, Joyce named it as: “the unofficial anthem of Qantas for the last 35 years. That song talks about the balance of the joy of discovering the joys of travel, but also being away from the people that you love and places that we love.”

Alan Joyce speaking at the media event

The song was featured in a Qantas campaign in 2020, performed via video calls by children as Australians were at the start of lockdowns. It was also featured in Qantas’ safety video that was launched in February of that year.

On Qantas’ campaign last year, which encouraged Australians to get vaccinated against COVID to travel again, Joyce said: “It was an ad that went viral. It was an ad that everybody said the Australian Government should have done in encouraging people to [get vaccinated].”

In a media release, The Monkeys co-founder & group CEO, lead at Accenture Interactive ANZ, Mark Green said: “Working on a new version of such an iconic campaign to showcase Australia alongside some truly inspirational Australians was an exciting challenge, and it’s even more exciting to share it with the world.

“We worked hard to stay true to the emotion and enormous sense of national pride this campaign has always inspired and incorporating the real vision of a family reunion at the airport gave the advert a highly relatable relevance, with many Australians now finally able to rejoice in being together again.”

Director of the film Kiku Ohe commented: “We aimed to craft an atmospheric and stirring cinematic film to speak to the hearts and spirit of all Australians.

“There is no better way to herald Qantas’ return to travel than by celebrating Australia’s vast landscape and diverse people.”

Goodes, who is featured in the ad, said: “I’m honoured to be involved in something that celebrates our unique country and culture and will hopefully help the recovery of tourism operators by inspiring travellers to get out and explore all Australia has to offer.”

The campaign is on TV, out-of-home (OOH), print and digital. It will also be shown on all Qantas international flights upon arrival in Australia.

Credits:

Creative Agency: The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive
Production Company: Rabbit
Director: Kiku Ohe
DOP: Jeremy Rouse
Offline Company: Arc Edit
Post Production Companies: Blackbird & Heckler
Music: Turning Studios
Composer and Executive Music Producer: Elliott Wheeler
Photography: The Kitchen Creative Management
Photographer: Toby Burrows

 

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