It’s not every day you hear the voice of a famous comedian as you are heading through an airport. But that is exactly what is going to happen if you go to Bristol Airport in the near future.
The comedian in question is Justin Lee Collins, who presents the Sunday Night Project with Alan Carr. He has also hosted the Bring Back… series of programmes.
But his latest role won’t be enjoyed by millions on television, although it has been played and made available on various websites all over the web. And what is this role? He has provided the voice for a talking cone that is now speaking to hundreds of people at Bristol Airport.
It sounds like a joke from one of his television programmes, but in actual fact it is perfectly true. Lee Collins hails from Bristol himself, and that is one of the reasons why airport bosses chose him to provide his distinctive vocal talents to say just eight words to all those who pass through the airport and head past the cone.
These words are, “Welcome to Bristol Airport, please mind the stairs.”
The PR manager for the airport was clearly delighted that Justin had agreed to record the message for them. It is quite a coup for the airport as the task of recording these messages usually goes to regular staff members. The cone has been placed in the international arrivals part of the airport, close to passport control. This means that those who hear it will be arriving back in Bristol from a trip away, or arriving at the airport from another country on a visit.
In either case Justin Lee Collins’ voice was deemed to be the perfect welcome. He has a strong accent which he is instantly recognised for, and that is part of the reason he was chosen for the role.
Could this lead to a trend among airports to use the vocal talents of people who live and work in the area to provide their voices for this kind of work? Every area has famous people who hail from there, and if they have the accent to match it could start a series of similar welcome messages at other airports. It is certainly a different and more attention seeking welcome to the airport, so it will be interesting to see how long they use the message for.