New Vrbo ad featuring John Legend harnesses pure joy of real-life reunions

AUSTIN, Texas, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vacation rental company Vrbo^® unveiled its biggest campaign to date with a new ad featuring John Legend and real-life families who didn't realize they'd be experiencing surprise reunions with loved ones while cameras rolled. The scenes play out as Legend performs a new version of the classic song "I Can See Clearly Now."

The "Vrbo Presents: After a Long Wait" series of ads is all about families: Hugo and Tomas getting a post-pandemic wedding redo with their families as surprise guests; Susan and Peter meeting their 7-month-old grandchild for the first time in a Vrbo; and other prom, birthday, reunion celebrations families have been craving. Legend debuted the commercial and surprise reunions in an unprecedented 2:30 segment that aired during the season finale of The Voice.

"Vrbo believes there's nothing more important than being with the people you love, and we're celebrating that it's finally time to be reunited," said Lish Kennedy, Vrbo's vice president of global brand. "The music and stories are so powerful that we decided to debut the ad by airing behind-the scenes footage along with this goosebump-creating commercial together on network TV in a way that's never before been done."

Sixty- and thirty-second versions of "Vrbo Presents: After a Long Wait" will air across major networks including ABC, NBC, and E! and online in YouTube and Facebook ads.

Legend joined forces again with close collaborator and Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Raphael Saadiq to produce the rendition of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" featured in the ad.

Crispin Porter Bogusky developed the campaign, produced by Park Pictures and directed by Savannah Leaf, whose work weaves art and creativity with humanity, including a Grammy Award-nominated music video for Gary Clark Jr.'s "This Land." Latina- and Black-owned 360 Agency covered talent and music strategy, while 360PR+ provided communications strategy and PR support for the campaign.

The videos can be viewed at Vrbo.com/together. The campaign page will be updated as Vrbo releases longer versions of the behind-the-scenes reunion stories and adds more campaign elements celebrating long-awaited family togetherness through the summer.

About Vrbo

In 1995, Vrbo introduced a new way for people to travel together, pairing homeowners with families and friends looking for places to stay. We were grounded in one purpose: To give people the space they need to drop the distractions of everyday life and simply be together. Since then, we've grown into a global community of homeowners and travelers, with unique properties around the world. Vrbo makes it easy and fun to book cabins, condos, beach houses, and every kind of space in between.

Vrbo is part of Expedia Group and offers homeowners and property managers exposure to over 750 million visits to Expedia Group sites each month. To learn more, visit www.vrbo.com.

© 2021 Vrbo, an Expedia Group company. All rights reserved. Vrbo, HomeAway, the Vrbo logo, and the HomeAway logo are trademarks of HomeAway.

For more information, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE Vrbo