REYKJAVÍK, ICELAND – Icelandair has launched a social media campaign that takes a tongue in cheek look at whether Iceland is a “real” country as opposed to AI-generated.
The “Expedition Iceland” campaign was developed by social-first agency Kubbco in partnership with Icelandic agency Hvíta húsið.
The two-minute film follows an online conspiracy theorist who doesn’t believe that Iceland is real, and confidently shares his views with his followers. Because how could its spectacular landscape with volcanoes, hot springs, lava fields, geysers, Northern lights, and puffins possibly be real?
His sister, who is confident in her knowledge that Iceland is indeed real, tries to prove it to him by taking him there. Informing her brother and a quirky third character that Iceland has an airline, her brother replies sarcastically: “Great, is it called ‘Icelandair’?”
As the group travels to Iceland, our hero remains sceptical, asking distrustful questions such as “If we really are in Iceland, where is all the ice?” and pointing out that they must be in the world’s largest warehouse watching a green screen because there are no trees and “trees don’t grow on green screens”.
Throughout the film, the trio explores the beautiful Icelandic landscape, and while our conspiracy theorist friend argues that the puffins are robots and the hot springs are really just hot tubs, his conviction appears to wear off towards the end, when his sister encourages him to tell his followers that Iceland is a real country.
However, still wearing his T-shirt with the slogan “Iceland is AI-generated”, he changes his mind, grabs the phone and runs off, repeating his stance that Iceland isn’t real.
The film ends with a narrator saying the tagline “Iceland. It’s real.”
The campaign launched on 10 November and will run across Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and the Icelandair website for four to six weeks. Additional fun content is expected to be rolled out, with details still to be confirmed.
Gísli Brynjolfsson, Director of Marketing, Icelandair, said “In these both strange and wonderful times, where AI is everywhere, we wanted a fun and culturally relevant way to show people that Iceland is as real and stunning as it gets. Kubbco instantly understood the mission and brought forward an idea that speaks the same language we all use online: playful, curious, and a little mischievous.
“The collaboration with all agencies (Kubbco, Republik, and Hvíta húsið, red.) has been both challenging and genuinely rewarding. Everyone brought their strengths, and the result is a campaign that feels both seamless, full of personality, and has the potential to live on in so many ways.
“The response has been beyond what we hoped for so far. Seeing people laugh, share, and even plan their next trip to Iceland is ultimately why we do this.”
David Juul Ledstrup, Executive Strategy Director at Kubbco, said “We were introduced to an amazing concept and challenge by Icelandair, to show that Iceland isn’t AI-generated. Our task was to come up with something that would resonate on social media.
“Armed with cultural insights revolving around the use of humour, likeable characters, and spinning off the popularity (or frustration) of conspiracy theories and fake news, we created a social media concept and idea that has been overwhelmingly well-received by our audiences. It’s great to see how many people are interacting with this piece – and planning their next trip to Iceland.”
CREDITS
Executive Creative Director: Emils Lukasevics
Social Media Concept and Script: Josefine Forslund-Dalsgaard
Executive Strategy Director: David Juul Lerdstrup
Account Management: Yu Zhao
Project Management: Tai Christensen
Broader Concept and Production: Hvíta húsið
Director: Reynir Lyngdal
Production: Republik
