A grown man plays hide-and-seek with a seal in an oddly endearing spot for travel Web site Orbitz. Created by Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Chicago, and directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, the :30, titled "Orlando," is part of a new campaign promoting Orbitz’s improved search functionality, which helps narrow findings by asking users a series of questions such as "Are you single?" and "Is this a business trip?" The enhancements make finding useful, specific information on Orbitz much easier, according to Y&R creative director/copywriter Ken Erke. So in coming up with a new campaign for Orbitz, the agency focused on a " ‘search vs. find’ idea," Erke explained, "with ‘search’ being the enemy."
Three spots in the new Orbitz campaign—all directed by Murro—depict people playing games of hide-and-seek that end with them finding perfect vacations, which are represented by simple icons. In the case of "Orlando," it is a seal. In a spot titled "Las Vegas," it is three Las Vegas showgirls, and in the third ad called "Hawaii," it is a Hawaiian fire dancer.
"Obviously, Vegas, Hawaii and Orlando are three big markets for Orbitz," Erke remarked. "That’s why we concentrated on them."
As "Orlando," which is set in an office, opens, we see a man with his head down on his desk. He is counting, "four, five, six, seven…" A female co-worker walking by his cubicle takes notice. Meanwhile, a seal scampers through the office, looking for a place to hide.
"Ten. Ready or not, here I come," the man says, getting up from his desk and walking around a corner, as another bemused co-worker eyes the seeker.
The seeker makes his way to the copier room, where he spots the seal trying to stay out of sight next to a copier. "Ah-ha!" the man declares, pointing at the seal. The seal comes out of hiding and barks as if to say, "You got me!"
A graphic of a button reading "Find" is superimposed over the scene, then the spot cuts to a series of graphics—created by Brand New School, New York—that explain the services Orbitz offers. A voiceover intones, "Orbitz makes it easy to find your Orlando vacation. To find your hotel, flight and rental car, all you have to do is Orbitz. Orbitz and go."
A GREAT FIND
Y&R had a search of its own to conduct when it came to finding the right director for the Orbitz campaign, and the agency chose Murro. "He totally understood this [campaign]," Y&R senior art director Sonya Grewal said. "A lot of directors were like, ‘Oh, it’s all about the search and the find,’ but he knew it was all about the find."
Murro also helped shape the structure of the spots. "Not everyone was going to start with the [seeker] counting, but he said that in order to know it’s a very easy process [to find information on Orbitz], you have to show the beginning and the end. Without showing the counting, you don’t know how long ago the search started. But if you show the counting, and then the ultimate quick find, the metaphor is stronger," Erke related, "and he was right."
"These kinds of pieces are all about structure and how you tell the story," Murro said, "and to me, that was an interesting way of doing it."
For "Orlando," Murro and DP Robert Elswit (whose movie credits include Boogie Nights and Magnolia) shot the spot on location in an office building in Downtown Los Angeles over the course of one day.
"Noam was pretty focused. He moved pretty quickly. He knew what he wanted to do," Erke said, adding, "but he was certainly collaborative."
The day before the shoot was spent rehearsing with Schmoo, the female seal who appears in the spot courtesy of Worldwide Movie Animals, Saugus, Calif. Four trainers worked with Schmoo, who responded to audio and clicking cues, and was rewarded for her actions with fish.
"From a producer’s standpoint, it couldn’t have gone smoother," Y&R senior producer Lee Goldberg said of the shoot.
Avi Oron of New York-based Bikini Edit cut "Orlando," as well as the other spots in the campaign. (Oron actually worked out of The FilmWorkers Club, Chicago, for the convenience of the agency.)
"Avi was so thoughtful in the way he put these together," Erke said.
"He was just amazing," Grewal added. "He just put them together, and the first time we saw them, it was pretty much what you see now."
Assistant editor John Musial provided the voiceover on "Orlando." "We did a fair amount of voice casting, and while we were getting close, I never thought we nailed it," Erke said. "Then once we heard the rough cuts [with John doing the voiceover], that was it."
Human, New York, produced the simple, lighthearted track that plays as the spot concludes. "We never, ever thought of having music being over the spot," Grewal noted. "We just wanted something clean and simple toward the end where you see the graphics forming."
SIGNED, SEALED,
DELIVERED
Of course, one has to ask what it was like to work with Schmoo. After all, it isn’t everyday that one works with a seal.
"The seal was delightful," related Goldberg. "Whenever I get a board, and I see an animal in it, my first reaction is, ‘Oh no. This is just going to add on so much more time, so much more aggravation.’ They can be so well trained, but you never know what could tick them off. But, like I said, the seal was just absolutely delightful."
Murro also enjoyed working with the seal. "It was amazingly trainable," he said. "It’s like a dog."
While Schmoo was an excellent performer, there was a downside to working with a seal. "It was the stinkiest thing ever," the director said.
"She was very gassy," Erke explained.
Actor Kevin Fabian didn’t seem to mind. "This guy was generally excited to be shooting with the seal," Grewal said. "He is not acting."
Incidentally, Y&R had initially considered featuring a whale in "Orlando." "One of the original versions of the spot had a killer whale and a trainer hiding in someone’s walk-in closet, but no one could figure out [how to do it]," Erke said, laughing.
