Zulu Alpha Kilo makes its first U.S. Super Bowl ad

A new spot from online travel agency Booking.com and airing in the U.S. during the Super Bowl is a part of Canadian ad agency history: it will be the first from an independent Canadian creative shop to air during the American broadcast of the big game.

Zulu Alpha Kilo developed the spot – which stars Melissa McCarthy – in a collaboration between its three offices – New York, Toronto and Vancouver. The spot, titled “Somewhere, Anywhere,” is the launch of a new campaign for the Amsterdam-based travel brand that looks to capture the American desire to escape.

“The joy and excitement we get from traveling and exploring the world, or even taking a short trip close to home, gives us such wonderful memories. Every time my family travels, we come back as a little bit better versions of ourselves and we’re immediately inspired to start daydreaming about our next trip,” McCarthy said in a release. “The fun of travel starts with a world of possibilities, so I hope the ad gives everybody the inspiration to book their next trip.”

The campaign is built on insights gleaned through research by Booking.com and Zulu, which found that 73% of Americans report travel will always be worth it and that they are optimistic about travel this year, while an equal amount of U.S. travelers who used the service say they enjoyed the experience of booking their last trip.

“This year’s ‘Booking.yeah’ campaign aims to showcase that Booking.com is the most reliable platform to book a trip, no matter where travelers want to go, with features including instantly bookable vacation rentals, free cancellation on most bookings, verified reviews, great deals and more,” said Arjan Dijk, SVP and CMO at the brand.

After the big game, the campaign will air across prime time TV, audio streaming, online and social channels in the U.S., with Mindshare handling the media strategy and planning. A two minute, long-form version of the campaign video, viewable below, will also continue to live online.