The Famous Actor In Booking.com's Super Bowl 2022 Commercial
Looking forward to an uptick in travel after the rough uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, Booking.com is excited to show off its debut Super Bowl commercial for 2022. According to CNBC, the travel company is taking inspiration from its past campaigns and reviving the 2013 "Booking.yeah" slogan for a five-week roll-out. Super Bowl LVI will kick off the official campaign and they have picked the perfect spokesperson to get people excited for planning new adventures.
Senior VP and Marketing Officer Arjan Dijk explained in a statement that the campaign showcases how Booking.com can "make it easier for travelers to book a trip" and how it "is the reliable platform to do so, with features from free cancellation to customized filters to the largest selection and choice of accommodations — hotels, homes and everything in between."
Booking.com is giving away "100 dream vacations" and making entering the contest a fun interactive experience on game day. People who are long overdue for a trip can take a picture of "amazing destinations" they spot in any commercial — including the Super Bowl ad — and tag the company on social media. One hundred lucky winners will get a trip to the location of their choice. The only thing better would be to hang out with the star of their campaign — a man everyone would love to see play James Bond — and be charmed by his endless charisma. Is there a separate contest for that?
Idris Elba gets literal in Booking.com commercial
To assist in making Booking.com's straightforward business model shine a little brighter for game day, they selected the Sexiest Man Alive to star in the new campaign. Idris Elba is effortlessly cool in the Booking.com Super Bowl commercial, possibly proving that he can make any topic more interesting. Have you heard the man speak? If you haven't for some strange reason, Elba talks directly to the camera and explains what the online travel brand has to offer.
"To be clear," he begins while walking through a hotel lobby, "we have never been accused of being flashy, sexy, or lit." The brand's self-awareness is refreshing and instantly humorous with the "Luther" star's flair. Explaining that the fact that they named the company Booking.com is "kinda lit, if we're talking literal," Elba laughs at his own dad joke in a sauna. He mans a beachside bar in a Hawaiian shirt and chops wood at a chilly cabin with an ushanka-style hat. Acknowledging the brand isn't amazing at naming things, he speaks with certainty that, "We're good at helping you book travel."
"Booking.com's sense of humor gels with mine," Elba said in a statement, "so I was thrilled to partner with a brand that doesn't take themselves too seriously and focuses on just getting the job done of helping to make it easier for everyone to experience the world." Lucky for us, the fun on set didn't stop with the official ad.
Booking.com has fun with Idris Elba and other familiar faces in extra clips
It turns out Idris Elba received advice from a couple of "legendary spokes-blokes" for his Booking.com Super Bowl commercial. The "Thor" alum appeared in a teaser for the official ad and chatted with Isaiah Mustafa and Jonathan Goldsmith over Zoom. Mustafa became an iconic figure for Old Spice as "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" and Goldsmith is no other than Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World." Both of their wildly successful brand campaigns ran over a decade ago, but are still too iconic to forget.
Whether their advice and suggestions of appearing shirtless and doing action-filled stunts for Booking.com are helpful is besides the point. The trio make for a fun group of charming gents — a smart move from the travel company. The official YouTube page also has a brief spot of Elba rehearsing the slogan, giving Mustafa and Goldsmith "tingles" from the effect. There is also extra content in the form of an extended cut of the game day commercial and hilarious bloopers where "Idris says all the wrong things."
"Filming the ads was a blast," Elba said in a statement, per Adweek, "and I hope that after two years of a global pandemic, they bring a smile and perhaps a laugh to viewers, and most importantly, peace of mind for travelers looking to get back out there again." Cheers to Elba for perking us up over hopeful travels in the future.