Southwest Airlines campaign continues celebrating ʻOhana spirit

Over the past four decades, Southwest Airlines has built a brand legacy around freedom for every flier. 

Celebrating more than five years since launching its first flights to Hawaii, throughout this time, the airline has also been offering inter-island flights within the Aloha State.

Demonstrating the brand’s appreciation for the people and communities of Hawaii, the That’s a Big Flex campaign, created by advertising agency and long-time Southwest partner GSD&M, has gone extra deep in honoring ʻohana or family spirit. Many especially awesome aspects of Southwest’s service shine through in this year’s :30 Big Flex spot Cousins, a series of four :06s respectively entitled Snacks, Sleep, Big Day, and Kreme of the Crop, and in Surfing on Through, a colourful, localised :60 guide for boarding. Each of these elements, produced by full-service production studio Bella, is set to run on through year’s end.

When Bella launched last year, Partner and Executive Producer David Perry committed to extraordinary collaboration and problem solving. To bring these extra special spots to life, that meant enlisting the talents of O‘ahu-born and raised director Sean Davé, for starters.

“We also partnered with production service company Island Film Group’s Executive Producer Ricardo Galindez and Supervising Producer Krista Carella, who connected us with the very best local talent and crew,” Perry confirmed. “This All Star alliance gave us a solid foundation for fulfilling the agency’s poignant storytelling objectives.”

In his director’s treatment, Davé began by describing the feelings he experienced reading the agency’s scripts. “Never in a million years did I expect to see true Hawai‘i-style humour from a major brand,” he wrote. “The idea that Southwest and GSD&M took the plunge in embracing local culture, and took the care to actually get things right, means the world to me.”

As an ideal candidate for perfecting each frame of every campaign deliverable, Davé’s nuanced vision expressed in his treatment fully addressed all key details. Sharing personal anecdotes and waxing rhapsodic about the crucial importance of locations, casting, wardrobe, performances, and even turns of phrase, his suggestions for authentically representing Hawaiian culture hit every mark. For the production, the director made the case for shooting the That’s a Big Flex spots at a single home on O’ahu with an airy, open, and spacious backyard, then paring down to a smaller crew and footprint for the Surfing on Through production at Maui’s Kahului Airport.

Tapping his top-tier network, Davé also invited Hawaii and LA-based Director of Photography Austin Schmidt onboard. Given IFG’s logistical strengths and both gentlemen’s local roots, Davé was able to attend extensive pre-production work including casting callbacks, and both participated in multiple location and tech scouts.