MAGIC. That’s what’s on the table in this Canadian Pacific World Cruise Ad from 1927. And who doesn’t want to be swept off their feet by the Empress of Australia? This retro ad offers just that: “With such a setting, a cruise would be a thrill… in fact, the longest, completest, most enduring thrill of all.”
With summer coming up, people around the world are planning their summer thrills. Open any form of social media, and you’ll inevitably find folks of all demographics posing against a variety of tourist backdrops, eager to share their experiences. And you’re likely getting served ads that hope to drive you to do the same. Though nearly a century ago, this ad proves that desire to experience the exotic is nothing new. It speaks directly to that desire – and it does so without the help of Instagram.
Instead, it relies on the copy. The exotic imagery leads the audience in, but the copy tells the true travel story. Add touches of ridiculous luxury and sophistication, and it’s no wonder it held the moniker, “world’s greatest travel system.”
And then there are those who never, never cruise unless Cairo meant a party at Shepheard’s, and Peking provided American motor-cars out to the Temple of Heaven… unless the pick of Hindu servants attended them cross India, and there was at the right word to the right places in Shanghai. They would want caviar in the Red Sea, and broccoli with Hollandaise in the Indian Ocean.. with a French chef presiding over the feast in Bangkok.
The RMS Empress of Australia gained world-wide distinction thanks to its part in the rescue efforts after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Source: Wikipedia.