LYNX | LYNXjet | 2006
They launched a fake airline so convincingly that real flight attendants went on strike / LYNX "LYNXjet"
In 2005, a brand-new airline appeared in Australia. Underneath it all, it was really an ad for deodorant. But they built it so seriously that real flight attendants from an actual airline ended up striking over it.
The problem
For young Australian guys, that first overseas trip without parents is a rite of passage into adulthood. Freedom, and all the fantasies that come with a flight — including dreams of joining the mile-high club. LYNX decided to become the very thing that opens the door to that fantasy: the airplane itself.
The insight
Just showing an ad wasn't going to move young men's fantasies. The answer was to build a world they could actually believe in. Lowe Hunt and Universal McCann's solution: act like an airline.
The idea
They seriously launched a fictional airline called LYNXjet. There were commercials showing flight attendants in bed and spanking scenes, a website where you could actually book flights, "Mostesses" who picked up guys on the street, an actual plane painted in LYNXjet colors for a launch announcement, and even job postings for flight attendants.
What happened
The site got 658,000 visits, and 11,500 people signed up for the mile-high club. LYNX's market share hit an all-time high, and shipping targets were met within six weeks. However, the painted plane angered Jetstar's flight attendants, and after they threatened to strike, the plane was hastily repainted back to its original colors. Even so, it made news, and the campaign won the Media Grand Prix at Cannes.
Afterthought
Has the line between advertising and reality ever blurred this much? Even after triggering a real strike, the whole thing just became something people found funny — that's a kind of strength. This is the kind of madness that probably couldn't happen today, and I want to remember it properly.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2006
