Airbnb Helps Santa Avoid a Hotel ‘Santastrophe’ in New Holiday Ad

Airbnb is serving up its new holiday spot, “Santastrophe,” just in time for Thanksgiving in a continued effort to demonstrate the benefits of properties available for rental via its platform compared with hotel rooms.

“Santastrophe” is the latest installment in the company’s “Get an Airbnb” campaign, a series of short, animated films, developed by its in-house creative team, which debuted in August 2023. The series showcases the advantages of Airbnb properties versus hotels—such as better amenities, space, and value—through use cases like friends traveling together or a group of moms on a kid-free trip.

The holiday ad is narrated in the style of iconic Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” It depicts Santa Claus having issues delivering presents in a hotel on Christmas Eve but successfully getting “little Suzie” her gift as she sleeps in an Airbnb.

This marks the first spot in the “Get an Airbnb” series to feature a narrative, with multiple scenes within the hotel.

Airbnb said its creative team hand-picked every detail on Santa Claus, from the buckle on his shoes to his glasses, and even included an Easter egg: The gold stitching on his red coat is in the shape of the company’s logo, the “Belo.”

The creative team also sought to add a sense of magical realism through details such as the same scarf and red hat appearing on a bellhop in the hotel lobby and on the snowman welcoming guests to their Airbnb in the final scene.

“Santastrophe” will debut on Thanksgiving (Thursday, Nov. 28) in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S., appearing in cinemas, on social, and on television, including during the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Get an Airbnb

In May 2023, Airbnb began reacting to research showing that economy and luxury travelers preferred hotels, introducing 50 new features in its application, highlighted by Airbnb Rooms, which: let users focus on private rooms, engaged hosts, and low nightly rates; provided information about private bathrooms and door locks; and verified hosts through a Host Passport with background information and reviews.

More new features were added last November, including a revamped rating and review system, a “favorites” tier of properties, and more extensive listings.

And Airbnb kicked off an initiative in May whereby users could book iconic properties like the Disney Pixar Up house in New Mexico, the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy, or the iconic clock room of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.