‘AUSTRALIA IN THE SKY’ TAKES OFF AS QANTAS BOOSTS US CAPACITY via US creative agency CONVICTS, directed by Australia’s Justin McMillan
For the first time in a decade, Qantas has unveiled a new brand campaign in the North American market as demand for travel between the US and Australia continues to grow. Qantas tapped US creative agency CONVICTS, headed by Aussie expat Pete Maiden, who developed the concept and creative direction, which is directed by Australian director Justin McMillan.
Academy Award-nominated writer, producer and director Baz Luhrmann and four-time Academy Award-winning costume and production designer Catherine Martin act as creative consultants and ambassadors for the campaign, titled ‘Australia in the Sky’, which features Qantas crew alongside an all-star cast of Australian talent including actor and model Charlee Fraser and model Jess Hart.
The campaign lands as Qantas celebrates 70 years of flying to North America this year and continues to invest in new aircraft and routes servicing the US, including Project Sunrise non-stop flights which are expected to take-off between Sydney and New York in 2026.
The airline’s New York – Auckland – Sydney service currently operates four times per week and is set to increase to six per week from October 27th in line with demand over the holiday period.
Qantas Group Chief Marketing Officer Petra Perry said the campaign was designed to share the spirit of Australia with the North American market as more travellers consider a holiday down under.
“Be it through our warm, friendly crew or the premium Australian wine and produce we serve, we want our customers to feel like they’ve started their holiday in Australia from the moment they step onboard a Qantas aircraft.
“It’s easier than ever for US travellers to take a break in Australia, with the majority of our services connecting the two countries in a single hop.
“Throughout our long history of flying to North America and the rest of the world, we’ve always been incredibly proud to share what makes Australia so unique on a global stage.”
When asked why he chose to team up with Qantas, Baz Luhrmann said “Like all Australians, I feel a great deal of pride in Qantas. The moment you step on the flight you’re embraced by the unique spirit that brings a little of Aussie magic to every journey. When you’re on Qantas, you’re not waiting to get to Australia, you’re already there.”
Filmed at Qantas’ Los Angeles hangar onboard an A380 aircraft, the campaign also features scenes from famous locations around Australia including Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach and a flyover of Sydney Harbour, as well as Melbourne’s Federation Square and the Great Barrier Reef.
Qantas is also the only carrier to operate A380 services with First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy cabins between the US and Australia.
Australian Actor Chris Hemsworth who voiceovers the campaign said “As an Australian, I’ve spent a lot of time traveling on long-haul flights. I find such comfort stepping on a Qantas plane because it immediately feels like coming home.”
“Sharing the spirit of Qantas with our mates in the US–and around the world–has always been a dream of ours,” said Pete Maiden, the Aussie expat founder and CEO of Convicts. “Qantas isn’t just a national favorite down under, the airline brings the Aussie energy to life on their flights with the little touches of magic–from the menu to the staff to the overall energy on the plane–that we captured and amplified in our Australia in the Sky campaign. When we approached the Aussie creative community—from Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Jess Hart, Charlee Fraser, Pia and Kane Muehlenebck, Will Gluck and Justin McMillan–they all climbed aboard.”
The campaign is soundtracked by Australian duo Angus and Julia Stone and features a wardrobe of Australian designers.
Qantas offers more than 40 flights per week between North America and Australia to destinations such to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne.
Agency: Convicts
CEO: Pete Maiden
Executive Creative Director: Tom Law
Group Business Director: Trent Dunlop
Business Director: Dylan Roley
Account Supervisor: Abby White
Senior Writer: Cameron Higgins
Creative Consultants: Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin
Executive Producer: Nick Clifford
Social Director: Sean McKeever
US TVC
Director: Justin McMillan
Director of Photography: Tod Campbell
Line Producer: John Gilliland
Post Production: Heckler
Sound: Heckler Sound
31 Comments
What happened the good old qantas ads?
This is so heartless. No wonder they are dropping in the eye of the consumer..
this corny
What a charmless, uninspired ad. Looks like a giant bus, with glarey windows, delivering you to a place with what? – an aquarium. New Yorkers can the same experience by catching the subway to Coney Island. Fail.
Feels like the B team made this. Not sure we’ll be luring many Yanks in 2025.
I thought that a board member who’s a marketing and advertising expert would perhaps inspire something better than this bland, saccharine campaign. It’s like a 1980s tourism expo stand video. And that’s being polite.
WOW! How bad is that.
Captain! Pull up! Pull up! We’re losing altitude!!!
Looks cheap but I bet it cost a pretty penny.
Why would you want the sun blaring in on your flight, isn’t that why they invented window shades? Like, I get the idea that it’s trying to show that Australia has lots of sunshine but a) everyone already knows that and b) in this context it’s just annoying.
Side note, why is Qantas always obsessed with showing people getting wine on the flight and being just so delighted? It makes it look like they’ve never been in an airplane before.
Plane looks like a bus. Talent looks really contrived. Grade looks like the intro to Home and Away.
Rather a production house. I think money could have been better spent on the idea rather then misused talent.
Probably given a budget that any creative / director could only dream of. And then produced something so expected and creatively flat.
The Germans did it with all class a few weeks ago…
https://vimeo.com/1006735396
Abysmal
It’s time to go petra perry!
Cmon Baz.
You made a guy… Wear the logo on his shirt?
Oscar winning creativity right there.
Laugh: ‘Australia starts with Qantas.’ Sure does. You can feel ripped off before you arrive.
And then enjoy the full gouging experience once you’re here.
It’s as tone-deaf as Joyce’s pay packet.
Omg this is bad. And I’m not even in advertising trying to trash talk the other agency. Also if you’re trying to get Americans into the country why would you show a plane leaving?
…..and you are being polite.
You really have to wonder what Luhrmann and Martin actually brought to this project, aside from a hefty invoice. The result is painfully uninspired, relying on outdated and overused clichés about “Australia” that have been rightfully abandoned.
It’s hard to believe this passed as creative work—it’s lazy, out of touch, and entirely irrelevant.
So bad, whatever happened to production values!
When the average in flight safety video is better than your ad you’re in trouble.
This is what happens when management fuck up…they think changing the ads will fix the problem. The only way to fix it is to change the management!!!
Yep, that ads criminal.
This is like one of those cheesy Asian bank ads that you wake up to at 4:AM in a hotel room overseas after falling asleep with the TV on. But conceptually worse with less production value.
I’d pull this down ASAP.
Going to LA to shoot the interior of a Qantas plane and then bragging about it. Makes sense.
So the marketing department wrote this. Got it.
It’s almost like one of Australia’s most iconic brands did a bad ad and the other one didn’t.
The image of the plane tilting is scary.
Convict has been found guilty of producing this!
It’s so bad, in so many ways.
Qantas should be ashamed
Jfc this is absolutely awful. I’d hate to think of how much was spent on this.