Exclusive: M&C Saatchi shoots J.R. for Qantas
CB Exclusive – To publicise the new Qantas route to Dallas, M&C Saatchi, Sydney shot two of its most famous exports – Larry Hagman and Linda Grey – in Los Angeles for a print and poster campaign that runs this weekend.
“It was one of those ads that seemed so right – yet none of us thought it would ever get made,” said writer Andy Flemming. “After all, the two of them hadn’t been seen together for a very long time, and we literally only had a few weeks to pull the whole thing together.”
Adds executive creative director Ben Welsh. “Qantas just loved it. In fact, it’s a testament to the power of a great client combined with a simple idea that they pulled out the stops to make it happen.”
Agency: M&C Saatchi, Sydney
Executive Creative Director: Ben Welsh
Writer: Andy Flemming
Art Director: Graham Johnson
Art Director: Shane Gibson
Designer: Shane Kruger
Photographer: Jamie McFadyen
Managing Partner: Penny Sarfati
Account Director: Kristy Acland
61 Comments
A lot of effort and expense for a pun.
Big ad for a big, big client. Nice.
Nice to see a very simple idea that brings a smile to your face for a client of the magnitude as Qantas, who did kill Larry? Well done Andy!
Great work guys.
Nice pun. I like it. And it’s real.
Great work, love it. Might be a new way to advertise for Qantas. Cross fingers.
Is it just me, or is this actually a real ad for a real client with an idea?
Odd, for the blog.
Congrats to all involved.
Well done guys.
Seriously. Well done.
Ignore the naysayers, you’re doing big stuff for big clients, and that’s what this is all about. Congrats. Hope you pick up.
Nice.
But how come I never get one of those special airline seats with nothing in front of it for six rows, that I always see in the ads?
That would have been a tough one to get up.
Nice work, and congrats for keeping it simple.
Jamie McFad is so so hot right now.
The retoucher deserved a credit. A lot of credit.
Johnno, Andy, Shane, McFadyen… bold, populist, overt, unashamedly old-fashioned, bang on brand.
And beaut.
Wot? A real ad? With posters we can see? Cool. Nice.
What’s Linda more pissed off about? Larry/JR flirting with the stewardess? Or Larry flirting with the bottle of Pinot?
@ 8:01
You 1
Idea 15
Feeling lonely, champ?
Now THAT’S advertising! Savvy, smart, simple. And like all good posters, instantly readable from a great distance. Note, kiddies.
Go Jimmy!
a lame pun, a lot of M&C people posting.
Love it. Absolutely love it. Especially for a client of this magnitude!
Works for me. Just a shame none of the ancient Qantas staff actually look like that.
On ya Kruger!
Andy does Dallas!
Best part is you pulled it off.
Nice one fella.
A poster with wit, well done lads.
Jamie McFadyen shot JR.
We have a new entry: http://hoveringartdirectors.tumblr.com/
We all love Dallas.
JR was the best soap character ever invented.
Great to see Qantas bring back JR and Suwella.
Brilliant work
Well done to get this up. Might be a pun, but for a conservative client, it’s a big leap.
And besides, what other billboard images would so easily say Dallas?
Simple and entertaining. Nicely done, guys.
And good on Qantas for buying it.
More, please.
This is a bloody good poster.
Too cute for words!!! Love the ad & I ADORE Linda & Larry……they are the best!!!!
Love, love, love it!
Great pun. Great work.
It’s actually not a pun.
“You can make your antifreeze by stealing her blanket” is a pun.
And even if Dallas Returns were a pun, it’s still terrific.
Just by the by, Shakespeare introduced puns into popular literature…. I would’ve been happy as a suit to give him my next brief.
Well done Andy.
It’s a proper ad, done well.
And guess what? It’s also for a difficult client.
So, I doff my cap and clap like a little girl.
Doff.
So old school, it’s fresh.
Me likey
Linda still looks like an alcoholic. Only now with botox.
Jesus! are they real people? Tell me you guys used bad latex puppets! Man, they’re some scary faces. You can almost hear the stretching rubber sfx when they smile.
That said i like the idea it’s funny. And that hat rocks!
mmm Linda and Larry look better in the photo below, something’s not quite right there.
12.21 it’s a pun….a fun pun….but it’s a pun
it probably needs ‘three times a week’ at the bottom to make it better.
or ‘once a week’ like the origimnal show and a timeslot.
Why is the hostess offering one of the worlds most famous alcoholic a bottle of wine?
Part of his agreement to a liver transplant was to keep off the booze?
Good stuff guys.
Love it for it’s classic simplicity.
Be thankful you have I client that recognises it when they see it.
I thought it was new print for Virgin. Isn’t that their new font?
Pfff.
Great idea, but they should have used the director and DP who shot the TVCs for the photography. Way too shopped.
OK 3.23, it’s a pun. Important to have a technical win when we’re agreeing about a good ad, isn’t it?
I was actually trying to throw the negative naysayers off the scent, not the people that like the ad.
Good to see an ad with an idea what works.
Probably the best thing they have done all year.
The retouching was done by The Lime House, a hot new retouching shop operating out of Surry Hills. Check them out, their work is incredible.
I have carved this ad into my chest with a rusty nail and I don’t even work at M&C.
Dallas returns?
Why? Did Qantas fly to Dallas before then they stopped it and now they’re renewing it? If so it’s fine. If not it’s flawed.
It sort of works in a half arsed way if it’s “Dallas. Return.”
“Qantas does Dallas” is alot better.
IMHO
Surely Qantas can come up with a better line than: Enjoy the journey.
How about:
Qantas.
As smooth as shit off a shovel.
Distinctively Australian. To the point. Strong promise.
11:36
Here’s how two words can work together ok?
Here we go.
Dallas Returns means that Qantas are offering Return flights to Dallas.
Cool? With me?
Ok. The second meaning refers to the show that the two people in the ad are extremely famous for.
Dallas (the show) returns.
So it works.
Dallas. Return doesn’t really mean anything and ‘Qantas does Dallas’ is a porn film reference.
Ok. let’s move on.
Well done M&C. My faith in the blog applauding great work has ..returned.
Thank to the creatives at M&C for that superb bit of back peddling.
Don’t think it’s back peddling. Everyone seemed to get a basic two-word headline except 11:36.
Brilliant work from a brilliant creative.
Lets just talk about how hot hot hot Jimmy McF is in. There’ll be no debate about.
Well done Andy. Best billboard I’ve seen for ages.
Hey Flemming, you still owe me $50 from the Ridley Scott Black Hawk down night.
Bastard.
(And you thought I had Alzheimers.)
12:09 and 2:15
Wrong!
11:36 is absolutely right. Dallas returns simply means: Dallas comes back again. After all that’s what you meant right? Because Dallas hasn’t been around for a long time so it now returns. Alot of people will take it that way no matter how hard you try and justify it.
However it still kinda works in a…. round about way. (pardon the pun)
You better believe I’m hot right now! My arse is on fire!