'Luton Airport'
J Walter Thompson / 1976
This is 1970s advertising encapsulated. The line "Nah, Luton Airport" was brilliantly delivered by Lorraine Chase and became a national saying and also a hit record. It’s a reflection of society at the time, the tastes and aspirations of a new middle class in Britain – and the sending up of nouveau and continental sophistication with the arrival of cheaper airfares taking us all abroad.
These were the days when comedy directors and actors ignored the scripts and shot popular entertainment. Often compared or mistaken for Alan Parker and Collett Dickenson Pearce’s Joan Collins/Leonard Rossiter Cinzano work, this spot will be remembered as an iconic piece of comedy for exotic brands of the time that temporarily captured our imagination. Today, Campari has been reinvented around Negronis and Zoe Saldana. I can’t help but feel that Lorraine’s beautiful rug pull on the whole thing gets the last laugh though.
Anna Carpen is creative parter at And Rising
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