Against Airbnb

Europe – In its latest tv ad, HomeAway takes aim at competitor Airbnb by suggesting that the sharing economy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

• Highlights the perils of sharing a holiday space with a stranger
• The ad, part of HomeAway’s largest international marketing campaign, is airing in the UK, US, France and Germany

It’s Your Holiday, Why Share It? aims to differentiate the vacation rental company from other home-sharing platforms. While the ad does not mention Airbnb by name, but mocks the sharing economy ethos it promotes. 

The video shows a parade of glum holidaymakers as they experience a variety of unpleasant situations, such as sharing a space with a toenail-clipping host, discovering suspicious hairs in a bar of soap and being watched in their sleep.

‘Our campaign demonstrates the problem of over-sharing,’ Mariano Dima, chief marketing officer at HomeAway, said in a statement. ‘Holidays are precious, so every moment should be about sharing the right things with the right people to ensure a more holistic, private and memorable holiday. We want to show travellers what a holiday does and does not look like.’