Why I Can’t Stop Watching Tourism Ads from 2011
Here’s a weird confession. I’ve spent the last two weeks knee-deep in a rabbit hole reviewing tourism commercials from the early 2010s. Not just New Zealand’s, but Iceland’s, Singapore’s, and a particularly hypnotic campaign from Slovenia. Why? Because they were fun, earnest, and weird in the most specific ways that today’s ultra-polished travel content simply can’t replicate.
Back then, tourism ads weren’t trying to act like they’d been produced by Wes Anderson’s younger cousin. They didn’t rely on pastel drone shots and moody piano notes. There was joy. Actual smiling. Sometimes even dancing. The New Zealand campaigns from that era flipped between epic Lord of the Rings grandeur and colloquial hokeyness, and somehow both worked. Now? We’re stuck in a moodboarding loop. Sameness disguised as sophistication. Everyone wants to be "aspirational" when they should be aiming for goosebumps.
The best of those ads treated the viewer not as a customer, but as a participant. Remember the cheesy-but-endearing New Zealand spot where the entire country literally waved at the camera? That’s personality. Winking self-awareness. It told me more about the national mood than any tripod-shot glacier ever could. The trend now is subtle and slow. That slow is not working. We need to reintroduce a little theatre into this space. A bit of live wire.
Maybe I'm romanticising the past, but I don't think I'm wrong. There's a missing link between storytelling and tone in this industry. If we're supposed to be leading the world in tourism and creativity, can we please stop acting like every potential visitor is an introverted poet looking for fog and solitude? Sell the sunshine. Sell the people. And maybe, just maybe, bring back the wave.
Back then, tourism ads weren’t trying to act like they’d been produced by Wes Anderson’s younger cousin. They didn’t rely on pastel drone shots and moody piano notes. There was joy. Actual smiling. Sometimes even dancing. The New Zealand campaigns from that era flipped between epic Lord of the Rings grandeur and colloquial hokeyness, and somehow both worked. Now? We’re stuck in a moodboarding loop. Sameness disguised as sophistication. Everyone wants to be "aspirational" when they should be aiming for goosebumps.
The best of those ads treated the viewer not as a customer, but as a participant. Remember the cheesy-but-endearing New Zealand spot where the entire country literally waved at the camera? That’s personality. Winking self-awareness. It told me more about the national mood than any tripod-shot glacier ever could. The trend now is subtle and slow. That slow is not working. We need to reintroduce a little theatre into this space. A bit of live wire.
Maybe I'm romanticising the past, but I don't think I'm wrong. There's a missing link between storytelling and tone in this industry. If we're supposed to be leading the world in tourism and creativity, can we please stop acting like every potential visitor is an introverted poet looking for fog and solitude? Sell the sunshine. Sell the people. And maybe, just maybe, bring back the wave.