British Airways face advertisement

Face

Smiling face formed by a crowd of people
Agency	Saatchi & Saatchi
Client	British Airways
Language	English
Running time	60 seconds
Release date(s)	1989 (Television)
Directed by	Hugh Hudson
Music by	Malcolm McLaren

The British Airways "Face" Advertisement was a television commercial campaign by British Airways in 1989. The commercial was made by advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi, it was written by Graham Fink and Jeremy Clarke and directed by Hugh Hudson. It is often considered to be a television commercial classic.

The advertisement was produced in the US state of Utah, with thousands of extras participating in the advertisement. Places of production included Salt Lake City, Lake Powell, and the salt flats near Moab, Utah.

Viewers first see a group of swimmers swimming, all wearing red clothing. A close-up of one of the swimmer's lips appear, and then, a quick cut into an aerial view of the swimmers walking out of the water in the shape of a human lip.

Afterwards, viewers see a group of people, wearing blue and black, walking on the streets of a city, forming the shape of an eye. And then, a group of people, wearing white, walking on a grassland and forming the shape of an ear. Afterwards, these groups of people (with the exception of the group that formed the ear, perhaps because they will eventually form the face instead) gather on a salt flat, and a scene is shown where people from all walks of life, from all cultures around the world unite together, with the British Union Jack in the background, and British Airways crew members in the midst of it.

The scene then cuts to an aerial view of the face, which smiles and winks. Afterwards, the face turns into the impression of the globe.

The sound track is "Aria" by Yanni and Malcolm McLaren, an adaptation of the Flower Duet from Léo Delibes' 1883 opera Lakmé.

There are three versions of the commercial. One is the original version, which was recut into another version around 1994 because new uniform was introduced for British Airways crew members. Another version was aired during Christmas, where the ending was replaced with a child hugging Father Christmas and a cut into a view of Earth from space.