Don't worry gents: Orbitz thinks you look great in that skirt.
Along with its website redesign, the online travel agency is out with a new campaign encouraging all Americans to "Take vacation back"—by actually using all those days off you've earned grinding away at your jobs with single-minded puritanical devotion. Created by BBDO New York, the central spot marks a new positioning for the brand, shedding the old, fast-talking, slapstick sales pitch pushing its intimate knowledge of hotels for an rallying anthem urging more time in the sun—by the pool, on the golf course—or shacked up with your sweetheart in your luxe suite.
Flipping from one vacation-scape to the next, the ad features a demographic range of travelers offering zippy quips to make the brand's case: "We the people will take our vacation days. All of them," says the collective voiceover. "We will wear sarongs, and look so right," says the paunchy middle-aged guy, standing, hands mock-defiantly on hips, against a tropical backdrop. "We will honeymoon like rabbits," a grinning newlywed assures the camera, from under the covers. And so forth.
It's a fun approach for the brand, rooted in a smart insight—only 57 percent of U.S. workers actually use all their vacation time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll—that's likely to resonate with the people who do need to get away more. The brand also manages to work in its mobile app (roughly 9 percent of the brands hotel transactions in Q1 were on mobile devices) without making the cameo too awkward. Another notable detail: The logo on the golfer's cap is for the Human Rights Campaign—a reference, passing as it is, in keeping with the brand's history of support for LGBT rights.
We are glad, though, not to be the pool boy.
CREDITS
Client: Orbitz
Agency: BBDO New York
CCO: David Lubars
Senior Creative Director: Susan Golkin
Senior Creative Director: Gro Frivoll
Creative Director/Art Director: Dan Cohen
Associate Creative Director/Copy Writer: Jon Yasgur
Producers: BBDO New York
Senior Content Producer: Tricia Lentini
BBDO Music Producer: Loren Parkins
Production Company: Uber Content
Director: Luis Gerard
Prod Co. Executive Producer: Steve Wi
Production Line Producer: J.D. Davison
Editor: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Dave Anderson
Asst. Editor: Winslow Lewis
Schmidgital at Mackenzie Cutler: Visual Effects House
Music House: Human