The archive · PR & Stunts · Marketing decision · 2021
Emirates puts cabin crew atop the Burj Khalifa to announce the UK red-list news
Emirates staged a real crew member on the world's tallest rooftop, filmed the announcement, and let the world ask whether it was real.
Emirates
What it had to solve
When the UK finally took the UAE off its Covid-19 Red List for travel, Emirates wanted to shout the news from a stage no rival could reach — and to turn a bureaucratic travel ruling into an emotional signal that flying was open again.
How it works
In the summer of 2021 the UK finally removed the UAE from its Covid-19 Red List, reopening travel between the two countries. Emirates wanted to announce the news with something bigger than a press release — from the world's highest rooftop, 828 metres above Dubai.
A woman in Emirates cabin crew uniform stood on the Burj Khalifa's summit and held up boards sharing the news while drone pilots filmed the scene. The footage was released as a film, and its apparent impossibility was the point: people across social media argued over whether the stunt was real or faked.
Emirates answered the doubt with a Behind the Scenes edit showing the shoot itself, and that proof became the most-engaged, most-viewed and most-shared video on the airline's Instagram channel. The campaign made global headlines and entered D&AD's awards archive as a PR stunt built on a real news moment.
Why it lands
- A real rooftop announcement turned a regulatory change into a physical spectacle no press release could match.
- Filming from the world's tallest building made the airline's home city and its aircraft part of the message.
- The real-or-fake debate amplified the film; releasing proof gave the story a second, equally viral act.
- Because only Emirates flies from Dubai, the setting was a stage no competitor could imitate.
What it did
The film went viral on social media and made global headlines, and the follow-up Behind the Scenes edit became the video with the most engagement, views and shares on Emirates' Instagram channel, per the D&AD entry. The work entered D&AD's awards archive under PR.
What you can take
A real-world spectacle that makes people argue about whether it is real earns two campaigns: the stunt itself and the proof that it happened.
Since then
The spot became a reference point for post-lockdown airline marketing and for real-world stunts built on genuine news moments: the airline celebrated a travel ruling by staging the announcement where the world could see it, and let the audience's disbelief drive the campaign's second wave. D&AD filed the work in its awards archive under PR.
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