Empire State Building Woos Tourists With ‘Real Magic’

The Empire State Building today (Wednesday) launched a campaign that aims to entice tourists to visit the Big Apple landmark, with the tagline: “The Real Magic, The Real New York.”

The campaign, by New York-based agency Avrett Free Ginsberg, highlights the “emotions, experiences and human connections” of visitors to the Empire State Building’s Observatory, according to the tourist attraction. Ads, running in regional publications like Time Out New York and the New York Post, show real consumers taking in the view from the observatory floor.

One ad, for instance, shows a mom and her child using high-powered binoculars to see the city. The creative uses real consumers as a visit to the observatory yields “a truly awe-inspired moment that elicits a unique energy, body language and expression that could just not be replicated using models,” Jean-Yves Ghazi, director of the Observatory, said in a statement.

To highlight the diversity and range of tourists the Empire State Building draws, the ads feature travelers ranging from around the world. The campaign also includes billboards in New York City, and outdoor creative in the Midtown Tunnel, Bruckner Expressway and the New Jersey Turnpike.