Have Gays. Will Travel.

"Dear Sophie,

Thank you very much for your application to Accelerate and I am delighted to be able to say it was successful! We would therefore like to invite you to join us at an Open Day on Thursday 5th February..."

Oh shit. I'm 21 on the 4th. Major bum out. I didn't ever think I'd get to this stage, as this was one of my essays considered for entry:

A Brand I Think Needs a Makeover and How I Would Do It

British Airways needs some serious rebranding. In the wake of lost luggage debaucles, public consciousness of carbon footprints resembling Bigfoot more than Lilliput, the international financial crisis and ever-present passenger security fears, the future doesn’t look too certain for BA. Time magazine recently reported that the economic downturn does not necessarily mean that luxury goods are to become obsolete, but that consumers will become more discerning and fussy. Instead of advertising targeting families, who are certainly going to be hard hit in the economic crisis, I think marketing geared towards the gay community, harnessing the power of the pink pound, would be a great move for BA. This opportunity has become more viable in the past months; falling oil prices, along with smaller gay travel companies such as ‘Throb’ and ‘Respect’ closing, I’d use an advert showing an attractive man in his 30’s, in the comfort of BA’s Premium Economy cabin; if you’re going to spend the money, you might as well spend those few extra pounds. He’s sitting next to the aisle. Following this, there are close ups of the tangible pleasures of BA; the additional legroom, the food service, the entertainment system. As our protagonist reclines, he closes his eyes and we see long shots of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, very short clips of the Pride march. He is awoken by a man in a shirt walking down the cabin’s aisle. They exchange smiles. We’re lead to believe the second man is a flight attendant, until the first man moves so the second can sit in the window seat. The second man holds the first’s hand as they gaze out of the window to see the Bay Bridge. Hopefully, the shock factor of featuring a gay couple in adverts that have usually ignored this demographic will help to promote BA, as well as showing it to be a progressive company with societal awareness.

I still kinda like it, though.