Qantas brings back ‘Feels Like Home’ campaign for a post-COVID world

Working with creative agency The Monkeys, the Flying Kangaroo has shot a new ad with real footage of a mother of four being reunited with her adult son, who has been living in Japan since before the pandemic, on her 60^th birthday.

Like the original campaign, the new ads – slated to launch on TV on 14 May to coincide with Mother’s Day, and running until the end of June – include Australian singer Martha Marlow performing Randy Newman’s “Feels Like Home”.

“Connecting people is at the heart of what we do and the Feels Like Home series captures the emotion and memories that Australians associate with coming home with Qantas,” Qantas Group Chief Marketing Officer Petra Perry told Mumbrella.

“This ad series is all about real stories, real people and real connections and that’s why they can tug at the heartstrings, because the reactions are real. In this latest version, watching the Mum react to seeing her son for the first time in four years, is real and authentic, she’s not acting.”

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The original 2014 ad campaign focused around stories of “everyday Australians” from around the world looking forward to reuniting with friends and family after being away.

The stories featured in the advertisements included a miner in Western Australia’s Pilbara, a couple living in Hong Kong, a 27-year-old woman heading home to Adelaide after a three years working in London, a family returning home from a holiday in Los Angeles and a backpacker from WA heading home from Santiago.