Visit Mum, the Guaranteed Tearjerker Ad Campaign from British Airways

Usually most of the airline TV advertising these days gets caught up in touting the new features of the business and first class, or some generic montages about connecting the world. We’ve covered lots of them over the last year here at Skift.

The latest “Visit Mum” ad campaign from British Airways takes the connections part to a very personal level, to the human to human relationship, and in the first video in the series, explores the connection between an immigrant son and the mother back home that every immigrant and expat anywhere in the world will identify with.

»  Related: For best ads in travel every week, check out our Skift Ads of The Week section.

The five minute film by O&M New York is poignant, nostalgic and emotionally exploitative, all at the same time, and a guaranteed tearjerker. The emotional video features a mother in Mumbai talking about how much she misses her son in New York, who hasn’t been back home in the last 15 years; during the video, she cooks her sons favorite meal of spiced Okra for BA to fly it to him in NYC, but instead ends up being surprised when BA flew him back home to meet her and family. Mix that with gorgeous slow-motion shots of quintessential Mumbai, and you have a winner.

Besides ripping at the family heartstrings, this film will promote the North America to India routes for British Airways, and is supported by an accompanying site retelling this story and promoting flights to India from U.S. and various parts of the world where BA flies from.

There’s never been a better time
You can make your Mum’s year in just the moment she gets to see your face again. And with more flights to India from more North American cities than anyone, we make it easy to give the gift of your self.

And of course the site features the recipe of the dish that the mom was making for her son.

For advertising aficionados, this may remind you of a 2011 “Where Will Happiness Strike Next” ad campaign from Coca Cola, where the brand sent Filipino expats home for the holidays.

»  Related: For best ads in travel every week, check out our Skift Ads of The Week section.