Travel adverts have long featured individuals fed up with overly stressed or stifling dull routines that make the decision to escape by spontaneously booking a vacation. At TUI UK, formerly Thomson Holidays, it’s Miles the Bear who gets the vacation that’s all he ever wanted in the company’s 2014 TV advert campaign.
Advertising agency BMB helped bring the story of Miles to life by focusing on the joys found in taking a TUI holiday. Miles is a worn, brown teddy bear with only one eye and a yarn grin. He’s beloved by the family he’s in, but also taken for granted in their everyday world. He gets yogurt spilled on his head and is carried up the stairs in a manner that allows his head to bang on every step. He gazes out of the window during a rainstorm while a spoken word version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” intoned by actor William Shatner fills the background. Is this the real life for Miles or is it just fantasy? Whatever it is, Miles is trapped in the part of life where routine takes over and every day starts to feel the same.
Everything changes the day his owner Emily stuffs him into her backpack. When the backpack opens, Miles is 30,000 feet in the sky on a Thomson Dreamliner and heading to a tropical resort in Jamaica. (Incidentally, the spot features a CG plane created by the team at Realise Studio and filmed by Tom Tagholm from Park Pictures). There, he’s finds relaxation on beachside lounge chairs (with a single sunglass over his one eye) and adventure in “deep sea” pool diving. Suddenly, the smile on his face that has always been there appears to have grown into an ear-to-ear grin. Miles is back to being himself again, all thanks to the TUI holiday.
In addition to a TV advert campaign, BMB also produced print advertisements featuring Miles on location at some of TUI UK’s most incredible destinations around the world. The print ads, according to the creatives at BMB, exhibit the transformative power of a TUI UK getaway. Taking a cue from the campaign’s tagline “discover your smile,” Miles has been able to find his all over again. Funnily enough, his smile even looks a whole lot like the company logo!
Love Miles so much that you wish you had your own teddy bear to join you on destination flights? TUI even sold a smaller version of Miles for £8 in their stores and on their flights throughout the duration of the campaign. Bon voyage to all travelling TUI UK — and don’t forget your teddy bears!