You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …

The Product:
Norwegian Cruise Lines

The Promotions:

The Pitch:
It’s different out here. Different from what is the real question.

Sometimes, you create a strawman that puts up so poor a fight, you forget you do still need to at least pretend to fight, too.

That’s the trap Norwegian Cruise Lines has fallen into. They had a solid idea for this series of ads: create humorous juxtaposition between the hardships of age-of-sail ships and the blissful rest-and-relaxation of Norwegian Cruises. Done well, you get a laugh from the audience at the same time you reinforce the idea that Norwegian Cruises are a luxurious paradise.

Except Norwegian Cruise Lines forgot to do that last part. They certainly taking their cruises look good in comparison to being an old-timey sailor, but that’s not really where the bar for choosing a vacation is set.

Like, in that first ad, their whole pitch, all they have to offer, is that they don’t enforce a dress code. You can wear flipflops to dinner – have you ever heard of such a freewheeling bacchanal!? Yes, actually, yes I have. Most anywhere will let you in with flipflops – and if you’re paying them hundreds or thousands of dollars for a vacation experience, they damn well better!

Or that second ad, where they promise they offer loads of fun activities, much better than watching someone walk the plank. But all they offer up as an example is … lying in the sun. Oh yeah, baby, where else can you possibly get in on that kinda action?

The closest these ads come to offering an actual enticement is in the third ad. They promise to do more than just serve you gruel, then actually remember to offer up ribeye as an attractive example And, hey, ribeye steaks are good! But you can also get ribeye steaks, y’know, just about anywhere else. I can all but guarantee, there are multiple restaurants in your town where you can get a good ribeye without having to take a thousand mile sea voyage.

Norwegian Cruise Lines had a solid joke to build these ads on, but they got so focused on the joke, they lost track of the fact they still needed to sell us something. Oopsy doodle!