British Airways Literally ‘Blows Passengers Away’ With Speedy Boarding System

Hate having to wait for hours at airport checkins? British Airways Cityflyer, in collaboration with creative agency Uncommon, recently released a new series of advertisements that show how passengers boarding its flights are, quite literally, blown away by the speed of its services.

The humorous spots see customers face a true “need for speed” through a series of passport pictures, in which their faces have been distorted by a leaf blower—all captured on camera by award-winning portrait photographer Emily Stein.

Aside from eye-catching facial expressions, other details on the passports have been changed to reflect the airliner’s speedy boarding time, including numbers being changed from numerals to “WHEEEE,” and accompanying sketches depicting battles against strong gusts of wind.

Ellie Daghlian and Elisa Czerwenka, creatives at Uncommon, told LBB Online that many ideas were initially floated about, such as the addition of flying letters, having the signatures “take off,” and more.

In the end, however, the designers decided to “let the photo do the main job,” with subtle illustrations alongside them to support the message—creating a design that, as with the boarding system it’s portraying, “communicates quickly and clearly.”

[via LBB Online and The Drum, images via Uncommon]