The romantic notion and thrill of travelling by plane may be over for most of us but the allure is captured in many of the old advertising posters. This “then and now” look at air travel compares the messages and styles of some of our original vintage airline posters with some from the same companies today to show how print-based advertising has changed over the years.
“The legend is back” – to evoke a feeling of nostalgia, American Airlines recently launched an advertising campaign using well-known celebrities from the 1950s and today:
…compared with these posters advertising travel to Paris (1950s) and Australia (1970s) by American Airlines:
The messages are clear – this trend of combining a look to the past as well as future hope can been seen in United’s return to its “fly the friendly skies” slogan, Aeroflot’s upgrade to glamour through its ranking as “Europe’s most elegant cabin crew” in 2013 and LOT’s recent campaign as “the most modern airline in Europe”:
(1960s)
(1950s)
…from this amusing cartoon style ad, “if only I flew by LOT” (1958), to this striking image and bold statement:
Meanwhile, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) and KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) have shifted up a couple of technological notches from more traditional art and photography during the 1950s and 1960s to embrace today’s digital age:
(2012)
(2002)
(2011)
(2002)
“The Gay Gateway” – active both on social media and as a supporter of the LGBT community, KLM created an online game in 2014 that offered players a chance to win two economy comfort flights. In 2010 their play-to-win campaign offered flights to “the world’s proudest festivals” as part of its sponsorship of Sweden’s Stockholm Gay Life Award. Turn back the clock half a century to perhaps a different meaning and we have an SAS stewardess serving customers Copenhagen, Europe’s Gay Gateway, on a dish:
Major events have also been used to entice people to show their support of their country by flying with their national carrier. The recent Summer Olympics in London (2012) and Winter Olympics in Sochi (2014) brought us some creative advertising posters from companies such as KLM and Austrian Airlines that contrast, for example, with this more traditional mid-century artistic depiction of Paris:
(1960s)
Sign of the times – you may be wondering by now why we’ve chosen only a small selection of airlines when we’ve got some great BOAC, Swissair, TWA etc. posters listed on our website. This is because we’ve remained focused on airlines that are still in existence today for a more direct comparison. However, we feel we can make an exception for Dobrolet, a Russian airline founded in 1923 that was consolidated with other Soviet aviation organisations to become Aeroflot in 1932. Earlier this year, the company was relaunched as Aeroflot’s low-cost carrier but a notice on their website currently states that their flights are currently suspended due to recent EU sanctions:
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