Carve out a few minutes today to check out this amazing ad by Airbnb. Tired of CGI, the creative teams at Airbnb used real miniature-making techniques to create a teensy-tiny world, which the viewer tours on the back of a train. Mechanical transitions make the set feel like it’s unfolding right in front of your eyes, and hundreds of lovingly crafted details—the moss on the side of the road, the gilded architectural details, tiny bricks and doors and people reading newspapers—make the viewing experience positively enchanting.
(Even more fascinating is the making of video, also included below). My favorite quote from the creative:
“What made the concept attractive to us is…the part of making the world a smaller place. That’s what Airbnb stands for and what magically happens when you travel and when you have local experiences.”
There’s a part in the video where the rooms are literally rotating around the train, peeling back door by door to reveal another room, then another room. It’s a wonderful way of illustrating how the world opens up the more you travel, and the constant motion and flow of the train makes you feel like you’ve completed a jolly little journey by the time the spot is over.
