Take Skift
Just in time for US football season, Vrbo publishes a hilarious ad about the host of a shared vacation rental you definitely don’t want to meet. Not even in an Airbnb room.
Dennis Schaal
Vrbo has a new listing featuring legendary Alabama University football coach and current ESPN commentator Nick Saban as a nightmarish vacation rental host. He relaxes in a hot tub with an obviously distraught couple seeking privacy, tells them they can shower for a maximum of five minutes, and warns that “no fun” is allowed.
About eight seconds before the end of the one-minute ad, a narrator says, “On Vrbo, you have to share your space with a host, whereas with other vacation rentals you have your space to yourself.” The commercial ends with a family sitting at a table on a patio with a view of a lake or the ocean in the background.
Vrbo’s ads have been making subtle jabs at Airbnb over the past few years, and this ad, titled “Relax, Host Free Stays,” seems to be no exception. The main message is that guests don’t have to put up with a lack of privacy and intrusive hosts.
Airbnb launched Airbnb Rooms with much fanfare in the summer of 2023. Sharing a room in a host’s vacation rental or apartment was touted as an affordable alternative for budget-conscious guests, offering the opportunity to meet a cool host and soak up the local vibe.
For example, this Airbnb listing in Avon, Colorado, advertises that guests can stay “with Nicki,” a beautician.
Airbnb Rooms wasn’t exactly one of the company’s biggest successes.
“The reality is that the biggest problem with Airbnb Rooms is a small percentage of our business,” Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told financial analysts during an August conference call. “It’s a very small percentage. So even if it — no matter how fast it grows — it’s starting from a very small base. But it’s going to start by offering a room in the home. It’s very affordable. It’s very popular with Gen Z, but it’s starting from a very small base. And so you’re not going to see a lot of change in the growth rate of the company on that basis.”
Airbnb did not comment on the latest Vrbo listing.
According to an Expedia Group spokesperson, Vrbo’s Nick Saban commercial will air nationally on U.S. television starting this weekend. Vrbo is a vacation rental brand owned by Expedia Group.
The last image in the Vrbo ad includes the logo and the words “Official Sponsor of the College Football Playoff.” The company also sponsors the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
The campaign will also include outdoor advertising, “stadium signage, partnerships and other activation measures,” the Expedia Group spokesman said.
