New Airbnb Ad Miniaturizes Real Listings

• December 1, 2014

by Lark Turner

A new Airbnb advertisement released last week explains the company’s business model with a model train — really.

The train travels through real Airbnb listings that were painstakingly recreated in miniature. The ad, “Welcome to Airbnb,” gives an overarching view of the company’s model, with emphasis on the unique and local experiences it offers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s no recreation of small rented-out condos of the type that have given the company so much trouble in cities like New York — and we didn’t see any miniature Ikea furniture, another Airbnb mainstay, either.

The ad was produced all in one take, which apparently required the help of more than nine people to move sets around and create details that made it just right. The train’s track runs through a castle, bungalows, cabins, treehouses and more. Its emphasis on the tiniest details is supposed to be a reflection of what the company brings to consumers, according to a video offering an inside look at the advertisement.

“Making the world a smaller place is what Airbnb stands for and what magically happens when you travel and you have local experiences, versus just traveling like a tourist,” one of the ad’s creators said in the explanatory video.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/airbnb_ad_recreates_real_listings_in_miniature/9280