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Devyani Kohli
Professor Hymes
English 115, M/W 11:00-12:15
8 December 2014
Similar Messages, Different Airlines
The commercial, Kobe vs. Messi: Legends on Board was promoted in 2012 for Turkish
Airlines. The commercial starts out with a boy holding a soccer ball while entering the first class
cabin of the Turkish Airlines plane. He is shocked to see Lionel Messi and is ready to ask for his
autograph when Kobe Bryant, a few seats down, calls him out. The boy is amazed at the skills
Bryant presents to him with a ball transitioning to each of his fingers. Messi tries to attract the
boy by using his soccer ball and doing soccer tricks in his seat. Bryant distracts the boy again
trying to prove his skills are better than Messis skills. The competition changes from their
known skills to other unique skills, such as Bryant building a house out of cards and Messi
building a windmill out of playing cards (provided by the airlines). This friendly competition
continues until the airhostess presents the boy with ice cream which attracts him more than
Bryant and Messi. Bryant and Messi are both stunned by how the boy chose ice cream over
them. A similar commercial that promotes international stars on airplanes is the Emirates
commercial, All Time Greats, which was released in March of 2014. In this advertisement,
Cristiano Ronaldo is seen standing at the bar overhearing two mens conversation. He hears
them praising someone for their amazing talent and good looks. Ronaldo thinks that it is him
they are talking about; however he quickly realizes that the conversation was about Edson
Arantes Pele as Pele walks towards the bar. Pele smiles at Ronaldo knowing that those two men
did not know who Ronaldo was. Suddenly, a younger man asks Ronaldo for a picture and hands

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the camera to Pele. Ronaldo gives a mischievous smirk knowing that the young man did not
know who Pele was. They both share a good laugh. Both advertisements use popular athletes to
promote their companies. Although these advertisements are promoting Turkish Airlines and
Emirates Airlines, it is also promoting the need for attention and male dominance through their
brand ambassadors, other male and female actors, and the visualization and slogan of the
airlines.
The commercials do not focus much on the airlines but more on the competition for
attention between each ambassador. In the Turkish Airlines commercial, the competition begins
when the little boy shows the ball to Messi for a signature. It causes Bryant to feel jealous and
he tries to distract the boy with his amazing basketball skills. Besides using their known skills to
compete with each other, they begin doing unusual skills to seek attention from the little boy. In
the Emirates commercial, the need for competition is as not strongly conveyed as in the Turkish
Airlines commercial. In this commercial, the company picks Cristiano Ronaldo and Pele, two
great soccer players of their times. The competition is portrayed to be friendly as they see which
player holds more value. Having great athletes compete in these advertisements helps promote
the need for attention.
Both commercials promote the need for attention through competition and past history. In
the Turkish Airlines commercial, neither players get to sign the ball; however perform their skills
to try to get the attention of the little boy. Correspondingly, in the Emirates commercial, both
stars are praised differently, but gain attention based on their past history. It sends the
underlying message of getting the attention through fame. The need for attention is sought by all
the stars and promotes that traveling with these airlines may help one seek attention from a more
successful person. The commercial not only focuses on the need for attention, but also promotes

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male dominance.
Male dominance is shown through the selection of brand ambassadors and the roles the
female actors play in these commercials. Based on the two advertisements, all the sports stars are
male. The companies did not just choose random sports players for the commercials, but high
endorsing and famous athletes. Each one of them is fit and has accomplished something great in
their career. They emphasize on their greatness by the skills they show in the Turkish Airlines
advertisement and the commentary by other men in the Emirates advertisement. Females, on the
other hand, were portrayed as inferior. Even the fans, such as the little boy in the Turkish
Airlines commercial or the three men in the Emirates commercial, are male. It sends the message
of how ordinary male figures look up to these successful athletes. In neither commercial were
females shown as fans or airline passengers. In both advertisements, women were the
airhostesses. In the Turkish Airlines commercial, the airhostess was serving the boy and others.
In the Emirates commercial, the airhostess acts as a bar tender serving the male passengers with
drinks. The actresses portray the idea of females serving males needs. The message is sent that
only males look up to male athletes as role models. It seems as if society does not feel that
women can also be fanatics about male athletes and male dominant sports. The promotion of the
airlines was not only overshadowed by the underlying messages of male superiority over women,
but targets a certain type of audience as well.
The audiences that these two airlines promote their business to are the upper class people
around the world. In the Turkish Airlines commercial, the commercial takes place in the first
class cabins. It emphasized on the legroom given in these cabins when Bryant and Messi were
performing foot tricks. The airhostess serves the boy ice cream in proper silverware, which also
illustrates it being in a first/business class. In the Emirates commercial, the airplane consists of a

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separate shower room, a first class cabin, and a bar. In the middle of the advertisement a text
heading appears stating that this is for first and business class only. The way Ronaldo and Pele
were dressed also portrays that this advertisement primarily focuses to the wealthy class. Both
Pele and Ronaldo wore dark suits with no ties. The advertisements do not focus on the economy
class cabins. The airlines were also promoting the commercial towards the older generation. In
the Turkish Airlines advertisement, even though the center of focus was primarily on young
generation stars and a young fan, the man behind Messi was an older gentleman. The young fan
cannot purchase a first class ticket, however the man sitting behind Messi emphasizes the
wealthy class as he has a ticket in the first class cabin. Similarly, in the Emirates advertisement,
the company also promotes more towards the older generation. There were no children in that
advertisement due to it taking place in a bar. It seemed that the two British men, who were
probably in their forties, were more interested in Pele, whereas the Indian guy who was probably
in his twenties was more interested in Ronaldo. Both commercials target the wealthy class
through their setting of the commercial; however their slogan also emphasizes on why people, in
general, should fly their airlines.
The slogans in the both commercials play an important role in promoting their airlines to
customers. The Emirates commercial promotes that it connects every fan of the game, meaning
that there are many pro athletes that use their airlines and one may find someone famous on their
flight (Emirates). Their promotion is less on how the model of the airplane looks, the prices, or
the cheap promotions, but on how a star may be on your flight and that is why one should fly
Emirates. On their website under Emirates Sponsorship, many different sports are shown. The
company uses sports to promote their traveling locations. The different sports emphasize on the
different parts of the world that Emirates flies to. It is one reason why in major competitions,

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Emirates is a major sponsor. On the other hand, the Turkish Airlines slogan is the best flyer
with Europes best airlines (Turkish). This slogan does not portray the thought of stars flying
this airline. It is promoting that one may have a good flight with this airlines due to reasons that
do not necessarily mean meeting a star. This advertisement focuses more on the comfort one can
receive from this airline, whereas Emirates focuses on the luxury of the airline.
The two airlines commercials portray the need for attention and male dominance rather
than the appearance and qualities of the airplane. In both commercials, the company does not
show most of the aircraft, but only certain sections that would be captivating to the audience.
They emphasize more on the wealthy aspects of the aircraft in order to target the upper class,
such as businessmen and stars. Having Ronaldo, Bryant, Messi, Pele, and other male actors
gives the idea of male dominance. Even though both commercials are for airlines, their slogans
portray different experiences people may have. Both commercials are selling the same product;
however, they convey similar underlying meanings through the actions the brand ambassadors
and actors perform and the setting of the airplane.

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Works Cited
"All-Time Greats | Cristiano Ronaldo and Pel | Football | Emirates." Emirates. N.p., n.d. Web.
14 Oct. 2014.
Emirates. Advertisement. Emirates YouTube Channel 28 March 2014. Web.
Turkish Airlines. Advertisement. Turkish Airlines YouTube Channel 12 Dec. 2013. Web.