November 15, 2019 
13 Comments 
Don’t wig out.
Not when you see that Virgin Australia’s latest ‘mascot’ is a wig named ‘Wiggy’.
Its newest campaign, a video called Up, Up and Toupee, of a flying toupee swept away from a man’s head as he packs his car for his own flight, is meant to suggest how amazing it feels to fly, but we think Virgin may have missed the mark on this one.
Michael Nearhos, general manager of brand and marketing at Virgin, says that extensive research revealed how the airline needed to re-emphasise the customer experience and Virgin’s personality. For some reason, someone was paid a fortune to choose a wig to deliver this message.
“We know our Virgin personality is so widely loved, and we are so proud to hero this through our new brand campaign,” said Mr Nearhos.
“Our focus from a customer experience perspective is always on how our famous service and product make people feel, and it’s really important to us to emphasise this in our new brand positioning.”
Maybe watching a wig that flies through the sky to a soundtrack of Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warne’s Up Where We Belong is meant to illustrate the feeling of the wind blowing through your hair, or the feeling of weightlessness as you soar through the sky. But, really, it’s just a 30-second clip of a flying wig. What was Virgin thinking? Watch the video and tell us what you think.
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Liv Gardiner
Peter Leith
The Conversation
Ben Hocking
Leon Della Bosca
Gross. Have to admit it creates brand identity though. I’ll never see a wig again without thinking of Virgin. Is that a good thing? I doubt it.
How many $millions did virgin pay for that garbage! how low can advertising go
It is more about humiliating the man with the wig both by snatching off him in the first place then dumping back on his head later. Who wears a wig like that one?
Weird. They must be getting desperate.
It’s a bit of fun. Don’t knock it.
The ad will pay for itself in no time. It has done it’s job. Everyone will be talking about the terrible new Virgin advertisement. Mission accomplished……people are talking about Virgin, and reminded of the brand etc.
The ad will pay for itself in no time. It has done it’s job. Everyone will be talking about the terrible new Virgin advertisement. Mission accomplished……people are talking about Virgin, and reminded of the brand etc.
Big companies are penny wise and pound foolish with appointing their advertising people. Some of these people apparently never learned English, or spelling, and present their spiel with all the abbreviations used in text messages. If they are aiming at the older generation (who have the money) they need to get their act together or get a GCE (General Certificate of Education). I watched an ad on tv that mentioned Tom and I asked myself who’s Tom? Then the next word was Thu, so I did the cryptic crossword and came up with Tomorrow Thursday. I am insulted by ‘young’ advertising gurus addressing me in the manner of a text message. Not very appealing I assure you. The ads I would remember are humourous (but not slutty). If I were male and wore a wig I would be insulted by this ad.
Big companies are penny wise and pound foolish with appointing their advertising people. Some of these people apparently never learned English, or spelling, and present their spiel with all the abbreviations used in text messages. If they are aiming at the older generation (who have the money) they need to get their act together or get a GCE (General Certificate of Education). I watched an ad on tv that mentioned Tom and I asked myself who’s Tom? Then the next word was Thu, so I did the cryptic crossword and came up with Tomorrow Thursday. I am insulted by ‘young’ advertising gurus addressing me in the manner of a text message. Not very appealing I assure you. The ads I would remember are humourous (but not slutty). If I were male and wore a wig I would be insulted by this ad.
There are not many ads that bring a smile to my face, but this one does. Light hearted and fancy free, and a pretty good sense of direction that Wiggy’s got!
Whenever that song is played, memories of the wig will come back.