Celebrity Cruises Plays a Giant Psychic Game of Marco Polo in This Ambitious (but Puzzling) Ad

If you hear voices beckoning you to take a luxury cruise—or you feel an indescribable urge to whisper "Polo" into your coffee cup—Celebrity Cruises might be calling to you. Venables Bell & Partners' first ad for the brand peddles the ship trips with an unusual globe-spanning game of Marco Polo: Crew members yell the "Marco" call, while confused potential customers—miles away, living their busy city lives—deliver the response, "Polo," without fully seeming to understand why. It's not a terrible way to suggest adventure awaits, even if the actual product is a floating hotel. But the ad could just as easily be selling anti-psychosis medication—although if you start hallucinating, we don't suggest committing to a lengthy stay confined at sea with a couple thousand booze-guzzling humans. See a doctor instead. Celebrity is billing its services as modern luxury, promising savings of up to $2,150—which makes a viewer wonder how much the trip could possibly cost to begin with. (A quick search shows a seven-night cruise to Bermuda, leaving from Cape Liberty, N.J., starts at about $709. By comparison, a similar nine-night cruise to Bermuda leaving from Baltimore on Royal Caribbean—which owns Celebrity—starts from about $846.) Meanwhile, print ads—shown below—promise fine wine, chocolate and grass (the kind that grows in lawns, that is, in case you care for a game of bocce ball, or a picnic). The visuals make use of the X that echoes the one in Celebrity's logo. Overall, it's way mellower than the pumped-up, colorful montages Mullen launched this past fall to lure millennials to Royal Caribbean. A more reserved, soothing approach may be appropriate, since Celebrity owns the dubious reputation of an outsized number of on-board stomach illnesses. But it also needn't worry—the threat of barfing your brains out is actually fairly low, statistically speaking, and was, according to estimates last year, not enough to stop the overall industry from growing in 2015. CREDITS —TV Client: Celebrity Cruises Spot: "Marco Polo" Agency: Venables Bell & Partners Founder, Chairman: Paul Venables Partner, Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer Senior Art Director: Rich North Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen Executive Producer: Mandi Holdorf Agency Producer: Ryan Wilson Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor Executive Strategy Director: Lucy Farey-Jones Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley Motion Designers: Victor Bivol, Zac Wollons Production Company: Humble Directors: Samuel and Gunnar Director of Photography: Carlos Veron Executive Producer: Mark Kovaks Editing Company: Exile Editor: Elliot Graham Sound Design: 740 Sound Sound Designers: Scott Ganary, Jeff Martin Music: South Mix: Lime Visual Effects: The Mill Visual Effects Producer: Antonio Hardy Graphic Effects: Lumberyard Graphic Effects Artists: Victor Bivol, Zac Wollons Business Lead: Colleen McGee Account Supervisor: Krista Muir Account Manager: Ariel Rosen Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson Project Managers: Talya Fisher, Leah Murphy Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan —Print/ Outdoor Client: Celebrity Cruises Agency: Venables Bell & Partners Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will McGinness Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer Senior Art Director: Rich North Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher Design Director: Cris Logan Designer: Blake Johnston Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen Production House: Pacific Digital Image Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor Print Producers: Michelle Wells, Shelly Amin Art Buyers: Shelly Amin, Renee Hodges Photographer: Maren Caruso Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley Business Lead: Colleen McGee Account Supervisor: Krista Muir Account Manager: Ariel Rosen Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson Senior Project Manager: Talya Fisher Project Manager: Leah Murphy Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal —Digital Client: Celebrity Cruises Agency: Venables Bell & Partners Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will McGinness Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer Senior Art Director: Rich North Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor Design Director: Cris Logan Designers: Blake Johnston, Nicola Broderick Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan Digital Development: StangaOne Producer: Adela Chung Business Lead: Colleen McGee Account Supervisor: Krista Muir Account Manager: Ariel Rosen Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson Senior Project Manager: Talya Fisher Project Manager: Leah Murphy Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal

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Celebrity Cruises Plays a Giant Psychic Game of Marco Polo in This Ambitious (but Puzzling) Ad

Polo ...?

Gabriel Beltrone

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Gabriel Beltrone