After the horrible first few days that spawned YouTube videos and Flash games, it seems the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow is finally starting to function like your average airport terminal. So what's the play for British Airways? Hype that mediocrity in some new ads!

The campaign involves photos of real passengers using T5 combined with reasonable statistics that explain how "Terminal 5 is working." Among the ho-hum stats featured: "Yesterday at T5 average time through check-in was 8.5 minutes."

The airline is also posting the snaps on its T5 website. We're waiting to see if the carrier posts a photo of passengers crying over lost luggage: BA still mishandles an average of nine bags per jumbo jet flight.

Related Stories:
· BA Launches New Heathrow T5 Campaign [UK Travel Weekly]
· First-Person Airport Review: So Is T5 Really That Bad? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travel Weekly]]]> pbb 2008-08-07T13:35:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/22/132853/146

Sapphic sightseers, delight: A judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought against a Greek national LGBT group regarding the use of the word "lesbian," which was decided by the court to not refer generally to the residents of the island of Lesbos. The plaintiffs even faced a mutiny among islanders, some of whom credited the legend of Sappho with boosting tourism to the island.

Coming on the heels of the tempest in a teapot that was the proposed "South Carolina Is So Gay" ads, European tourists at whom the US ads were aimed should go to Greece instead. If you're not sold, see "Mamma Mia!"--a good time for gay and straight alike.

Related Stories:
· Frivolous Lawsuit Travel: Greek Island Not Pro-Gay Rights [Jaunted]
· Court Rules Lesbians Are Not Just from Lesbos [Reuters]
· A new Tourism Ad Creates an Uproar [Newsweek]
· Movie Set Travel: "Mamma Mia!" [Jaunted]
· LGBT coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: John and Mel Kots]]]> egw 2008-07-22T13:50:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/21/131149/409

We thought Orlando's inadvertently raunchy billboard was the greatest travel advertising of the year, but this ad from maverick LCC entrepreneur and washing machine salesman Tony Fernandes has just surged into the lead.

It should come as little surprise that this billboard is in Queensland, Australia, a country known for edgy advertising.

Related Stories:
· Hesitant to Travel? [Seattle P-I]
· Tourism Marketing and Double Entendres [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Beth Whitman]]]> pbb 2008-07-21T13:12:43-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/5/162345/0457

A tipster just sent us this snap, taken near McCarran International in Las Vegas. Why advertise one sunny destination in another? The Travel Industry Association's annual conference was on in Nevada, and Orlando didn't want to miss out on the fun.

Oh, and you're not the only one with the dirty mind. Liz Benston at the Las Vegas Sun is right there with you. The ad may work for Orlando, she writes, but it'd never fly in her hometown:

Take the double and potentially negative meaning of "stays with you forever" when applied to a whirlwind trip to Las Vegas, for example.

Related Stories:
· Orlando Spikes Vegas Rivalry with Humor [LVS]
· Meanwhile in Orlando [Gridskipper]
· Tourism Marketing coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-06-05T16:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/5/112027/2129

Every time Spirit releases one of its frat-tastic ads, it falls flatter than a joke about airline fees. Yet, Southwest Airlines has managed to create an edgy ad that tackles nickel-and-diming--and doesn't make us groan.

This full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal is just perfect, and it works hand-in-hand with a new URL: southwest.com/nofees. With so many airlines adding extra charges, a bit of attention-grabbing "#$*!%" is just what Southwest needs to remind jaded fliers that you won't get charged for checking a bag on the carrier. Nicely done.

Related Stories:
· Best Airline Ad Ever! [Tim Leffel]
· Southwest Airlines coverage [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-06-05T11:30:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/9/73556/13075

In the tradition of curious Scandinavian airline marketing--we're thinking of Finnair's creepy panda--SAS Scandinavian Airlines is launching a new, multilingual marketing campaign.

The whole thing centers on using local languages in English-language advertising. The reasoning is, according to one of SAS's general managers, that

the Scandinavian languages, like the region's sleek, stylish designs, reflect the real essence of what makes this vast northern region so unique.

Yeah. Unique--or really difficult to understand. The meant-to-be-eye-catching ads use words like Bättre (it means better) and Störst (which, of course, means largest). We're not sure if these words are sleek and stylish or just unusual. Would you really buy a ticket on SAS just for the umlauts?

Related Stories:
· SAS Ads Embrace the Scandinavian Languages [BusinessWire]
· Finnair's Creepy Panda [Jaunted]

[Photo: tölvakonu]]]> amandak 2008-04-09T09:15:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/4/124924/1092

One thing that tourism boards never seem to get is that having an incredibly long name isn't helpful. Like, say, the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation. Doesn't exactly scream "We're hip! Come visit!" does it?

So the tourism folks in the capital decided to change the name to Destination DC, which besides being reasonable is also an easy to remember URL. Along with the new name comes a major marketing push, playing up the fact that Washington is the country's most powerful city.

Besides all the obvious governmental stuff ("Seat of Power"), you've got your "Fire Power" (sunsets over the Potomic and July 4th fireworks), your "Power Play" (flying kites on the National Mall) and your "Soul Power" (massages, jazz and Sunday brunch). Some of the "power" puns are definitely stretching it, but the overall effort looks pretty slick. It should: Destination DC's spending $2 million on the campaign.

Related Stories:
· Destination DC [Official Site]
· My Houston, We Don't Have a Problem [Jaunted]
· Tourism Board Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-04-04T13:05:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/