Orbitz, New Boyfriend

On a game show, a colorful door turns, revealing a man in a lavender shirt. The announcer says, "HE'S a travel editor from Miami!" The man femininely grabs his chest in mock surprise.

As door number two swings around, revealing a tall, handsome fellow with another clinging to his shoulder, the announcer says, "HE'S got a new boyfriend!"

"And this is Take On Orbitz," he continues, "the game that pits other travel services against Orbitz.com."

The host, game show favorite Wink Martindale (from "Tic-Tac-Dough"), walks on stage. "Today's contestants need a hotel in San Francisco with a mini-bar and gym," he says as the display behinds him lists the amenities in typical game-show fashion. The unseen audience gasps at the challenge.

The couple and travel editor face off, each with a computer trying to make their vacation plans the fastest through online booking. The new boyfriend is still hanging off his beau, playfully distracting him from typing by toying with his ear and rubbing his shoulders. (The set-up is that a travel editor should be a wiz at booking, while the distracted couple should not be, but they use Orbitz.com.) The couple wins, despite the "handicap" of new love.

The couple high-fives and hugs, while the travel editor is peeved at being shown up.

"Orbitz makes it fast and easy to find the right gay-friendly hotel," explains the host. The new boyfriend runs over to Martindale and hugs him, to which Martindale remarks: "I like that!"

The ad ends with the URL, www.orbitz.com/gaytravel.

This is the third dedicated gay commercial from Orbitz, which also does gay print media advertising. The company was able to uniquely determine exactly how many gay customers they had because of a dedicated Gay Travel section, which it calls a microsite, found on the home page along with other specialized travel interests. The company says it was the first general travel site to feature a gay section.

“Orbitz continues to make diversity a priority via our extensive gay travel microsite as well as in our marketing efforts and community outreach,” Mitch Truwit, president and CEO at Orbitz in Chicago, told Commercial Closet.

“Gay and lesbian travelers are an important, valued audience for travel and leisure companies,” he says, noting that 10% of Orbitz's customers are gay and lesbian. “Airlines and hotels across the globe ask us how they can be featured on Orbitz's gay travel microsite because they too recognize that gay travelers are some of their best customers.”

Explaining the ad concept, Truwit says, “In focus groups, Orbitz users kept telling us how much easier it is to find the right option using Orbitz. So using the classic game show format in our advertising demonstrates in a fun way.”