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Another PR disaster for BA

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  • Another PR disaster for BA

    This is unbelievably petty:

    British Airways has removed a shot of Virgin Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson from the in-flight version of the James Bond movie Casino Royale. Sir Richard was seen briefly in the original film, passing through an airport security scanner, but can only be seen from behind in the new edit.

    "Many films are edited in some way on board," said a BA spokesman.

    Daniel Craig's debut last year as 007 became the most successful Bond movie at the worldwide box office.

    Sir Richard was given a cameo after supplying a plane for use in the film. The British Airways edit also obscures the tail fin of a Virgin plane that was seen in the original.

    BA's entertainment team vets films and television shows for flights on grounds of taste and suitability. "We do reserve the right to edit films, and many films are edited in some way on board," said a spokesman.

    Casino Royale was hailed as a reinvention of the franchise
    Virgin Atlantic spokesman Paul Charles told the Associated Press: "We think passengers should see the whole film and nothing but the whole film."

    The two firms have a history of rivalries and run-ins, stemming all the way back to Virgin's launch on the competitive trans-Atlantic routes in 1984.

    Casino Royale made more than $450m (£225m) at cinemas last year, surpassing the previous best for Bond - $431m (£215m) for Die Another Day in 2002.

    The 21st official James Bond movie is based on Ian Fleming's first novel about the spy, published in 1953, and shows how he acquires his licence to kill with its 00 prefix.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6579839.stm

  • #2
    My word - this is indeed a disaster. If it had been left unedited, I think it'd have passed without anyone batting an eyelid, but now? .... oh dear oh dear...

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    • #3
      Besides, many people would've seen the film prior to seeing it on the plane.... But of course that would have made too much sense wouldn't it?
      All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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      • #4
        Ha! I just saw Casino Royale this evening....and noticed the bearded one at the scanner

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        • #5
          I got to say I don't think it is a great bit of product placement by VS. Yes you seen the bearded one and the VS plane but you are still thinking Bond flew there on BA in First.

          Just like BMW placed their cars in the films but Aston Martin was still Bonds car.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Lobster View Post
            I got to say I don't think it is a great bit of product placement by VS. Yes you seen the bearded one and the VS plane but you are still thinking Bond flew there on BA in First.
            I'm not too sure about that, but this 'gift' to VS from BA turned it into an excellent bit of publicity.

            It seems hard to imagine there are those who claim it's just VS who are obsessed with BA.

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            • #7
              Petty I agree but a PR disaster ?

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              • #8
                Originally posted by jhm View Post
                Petty I agree but a PR disaster ?
                Without a doubt. It made headlines on news bulletins and newspaper column inches all over the place. Talk about free publicity without needing to do anything.

                It's an absolute 'gift' to the bearded one (who presumably is now thinking of a suitable slogan for an advert ), and has done exactly the opposite of what they intended when they childishly removed him from the film.

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                • #9
                  Actually, having now read the relevant TOF thread, it's actually another example of "quality" journalism by the BBC and others (but don't let that get in the way of a good story particualrly involving BA bashing which seems to be flavour of the month recently) ... together with BA's mistake in not countering the allegations by setting out the facts.

                  http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...2&postcount=20

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                  • #10
                    Although overall I'm sure that it has not been a great PR success for BA, there must be others out there like me who think well done BA. I find the bearded ones self promotion really annoying so think it is great that BA have cut him out.

                    I am hoping to fly to the states in the summer and that is a definite plus for BA from me. Having said that what will actually decide it is cost, the chance to go to the VS CH lounge compared to more TPs in my BAEC account.

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