Cunard has made its first cinema appearance with a new ‘Dreams’ advert appearing in UK cinemas before every screening of the new Downton Abbey movie.

The advert, which has been created by Cunard’s retained agency Alpha Century, draws from the emotions evoked from travelling on the world’s only ocean liner Queen Mary 2, on an iconic transatlantic crossing with Cunard.

Featuring the voice of British philosopher, writer, and speaker Alan Watts, the 40-second advert invites the audience to dream of love, banquets, wonderful journeys and music beyond all belief and then, once you have done all that, forget that you were dreaming.

“In a world where we often find it hard to switch off, a holiday on board a Cunard ship is the perfect place to escape the everyday.

“This advert captures what it feels like to experience the magic of a Cunard voyage on board our flagship Queen Mary 2 as she journeys across the Atlantic,” said David Milo Jones, marketing director, Cunard.

Downton Abbey was chosen as the platform to release the new advert by Cunard’s retained media buying agency Wavemaker, who wanted to provide Cunard with the perfect combination of reach, impact and context.

“We know that many of our target audience of discerning travellers are passionate Downton Abbey fans, so a return to the big screen was too good an opportunity for us to miss,” Jones added.

The Cunard campaign also includes branded content produced by Alpha Century that will run across Cunard’s social media channels and be distributed to Cunard’s international teams to use in their own sales and marketing channels.

Downton Abbey took the world by storm when it debuted on ITV in 2010, gaining popularity throughout its six-season run until finally calling it a day in 2015.

The show followed the aristocratic Crawley family and their team of dedicated servants on the fictional Yorkshire Estate, Downton Abbey, from 1912 until 1925.

Starring Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville the film is set in 1927, and features a royal visit to Downton Abbey by King George V and Queen Mary.