Emirates releases video to address ‘real or fake’ questions over Burj Khalifa ad

Dubai’s Emirates airline has published a video addressing questions over whether a viral advertising campaign featuring a stuntwoman on top of the world’s tallest building was real or faked.

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The video goes behind the scenes of the video shoot to show how producers secured stuntwoman Nicole Lundvik-Smith, clad in flight attendant attire, to the top of the Burj Khalifa’s spire.

Hidden from view was a harness around Lundvik-Smith’s torso securing her to a rigging apparatus on the spire.

The stuntwoman climbed ladders for more than an hour from Burj Khalifa’s 160th floor in order to reach the very top.

Once there, the rigging was set up and Lundvik-Smith was secured by her harness so that she would be caught if she slipped and fell.

The apparently death-defying advertisement was published on Emirates’ social media channels on August 5 to coincide with the UK government’s announcement that the United Arab Emirates would be moving to the country’s amber travel list, easing many restrictions on travel.

A closeup of Lundvik-Smith holding placards with a written message on them opens the video.

“Moving to the UK’s amber list has made us feel on top of the world,” the placards say, before the camera zooms out to show a dizzying view of the stuntwoman standing a platform attached to the Burj Khalifa’s spire, with Dubai’s skyline in the background.

The original video racked up more than 115,000 videos on Twitter, with many wondering if a greenscreen or other digital manipulation had been responsible for affixing Lundvik-Smith to the building.

On Monday, Emirates released the second behind-the-scenes video along with the following caption: “Real or fake? A lot of you have asked this question and we’re here to answer it.

“Here’s how we made it to the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.”

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