Things that are connected by the Internet across the screen may be close to the heart and longing for the soul because of the stories, feelings, and the inspiration of idols. I have never met, but it is like a reunion after a long absence.
Walk up the long staircase of Suga Shrine and vision the encounter at the end of "Your Name". Facing the blue Shonan coast, the youthful memories of "Slam Dunk" came to life.
When a certain movie or a certain comic can find traces of existence in reality and establish a real connection with life, there will be indescribable emotion in our hearts, because we seem to have shared the same sky.
If you've ever had similar fantasies, Airbnb's summer product update is great news. The world in the dream is becoming a reality.
Pixar, the Olympics, the X-Men, all went from 2D to 3D
At this moment, open the Airbnb app, and you can find some houses in the "Ace" series.
「This is a photo, not a rendering.」（这是照片，不是渲染图。 ）
Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky repeatedly mentioned this phrase during California's summer product launches.
If you only look at the pictures, you may indeed be misunderstood. It's a real photo, but it's like an AI-generated or computer-rendered photo. Because these houses have been restored to too "high-definition", as if they have traveled from the digital world intact.
"Carl's Flying House"
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Pixar's classic animated "Flying House", Airbnb gathered a team of 100 people to build "Carl's Flying House" in 3 weeks in an empty valley surrounded by red rocks in New Mexico, USA.
Every detail in the room is highly reproducible, from the small pill bottle on the bedside table, Carl and Elle's wedding photo, to the crutches supported by three tennis balls...... The "adventure notes" that record the dream locations and love stories of the two can be opened page by page, just like in the movie.
If picking out the details is a tacit understanding between fans, the scene of the "flying house" hanging with more than 8,000 balloons "flying" to a height of 15 meters by crane hits the heart of every adventure-loving heart.
"X Academy"
Shift the camera to New York State, where Airbnb has recreated "X Academy." However, the target is not the live-action film series starring Kazumi and French Shark, but the Marvel animated series "X-Men 97", which launched on Disney+ in March this year.
X-Men 97 is a sequel to the '90s X-Men anime series, so Airbnb's version of "X Academy" also features retro 2D animation, and even borrowed a 30-year-old antique desktop from Microsoft.
The walls, furniture, and props here have a comic feel, and even the leaves are hand-drawn by the artist.
Like the X-Men, you can put on a uniform, visit the Beast's laboratory, improve your fighting skills in the Danger Training Room, and discover the power of mutants with a brainwave booster to fulfill your dream of a superhero for a limited time.
Ferrari Museum
Across the Atlantic, the European continent is also calling for glory and dreams. The Ferrari Museum in the small town of Maranello, Italy, just 300 metres from the Ferrari factory, has opened up a bedroom full of classic Ferrari red.
If you're lucky enough to stay, be prepared to be surrounded by eight top-class race cars and hundreds of championship trophies, wake up in the same leather bed as the Ferrari seats, and watch the Grand Prix as a VIP.
Of course, the most exciting part is to get behind the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GTB at Fiorano and experience the speed and excitement of 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds.
The bell tower of the Musée d'Orsay
The bell tower of the Musée d'Orsay, one of Paris' landmarks, was the setting for the movie "Hugo".
The 2024 Olympic torch designer Mathieu Lehanneur transformed it into a lavish bedroom with an alcove displaying the torch and a wooden ceiling structure that coincides with the trajectory of the clock tower's hands.
Located next to the Seine and formerly the train station of the city center, this bell tower has both the bustle of the outside and the romance of the show.
Wander around the museum, where the paintings of the Impressionist masters allow you to look at them on your own. From the balcony, Paris is at your feet, with a great view of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Play games with "Brother Speechless".
Celebrity landlords are also a highlight of the "Ace" series. Your impression of "Brother Speechless" may still be stuck in the emojis that exploded a few years ago.
His name is Khaby Lame, and he is TikTok's No. 1 influencer with 160 million followers, who has made a lot of silent comedies, taught netizens useless tricks, and has his own set of signature moves: glaring, frowning, and spreading hands.
A game Loft in Milan, Italy, designed by "Brother Speechless" himself, after staying here, you can fight "Fortnite" with him, admire his treasured figures, and shoot short videos with him.
The "Ace" series, Airbnb's latest featured category, debuts 11 listings, and in addition to the above, there are many more equally exciting experiences -
Stay in the "emotional control center" of Pixar's new film "Mind Squad 2", the "home" of music legend Prince in the semi-autobiographical film "Purple Rain", and the family mansion of Bollywood superstar Janhvi Kapoor.
Participate in rapper Doja Cat's private parlor concert, singer Feid's bus tour, comedy star Kevin Hart's speakeasy talk show.
Every "trump card" may be the home you and I once imagined. Real life can also create the same magic as the digital world. The face is unfamiliar, the pulse beats at a similar frequency, and creativity connects different dimensions.
I don't think of Airbnb when I'm traveling
As you can see, "Ace" covers music, film and television, art, sports and other circles, inviting celebrities from all walks of life as hosts.
Airbnb's original intention is to have an opportunity to resonate with audiences from different circles, and at the same time, let more people know that it is not just a platform for booking homestays.
In the summer of 2023, when the live-action movie "Barbie" was released, Airbnb released "Barbie Dreamhouse", which is located in Malibu, California, and the saturated pink seems to have come out of the comics.
Similar to the movie's box office miracle, "Barbie's Dream House" has become more popular than you think—with more than 250 million social media impressions, even more attention than Airbnb had when it went public.
This inspired Airbnb that pop culture is extraordinarily lethal and that they can do so much more.
Barbie Dreamhouse is just one of Airbnb's 2019 launch of "Only On Airbnb" to create unique experiences around unique listings.
Over the past five years, Airbnb has launched about 90 "Airbnb Exclusives," including Hobbiton, the Lord of the Rings filming location, Home Alone original locations, and Shrek Swamp......
"Airbnb Exclusive" has initially met our demand for pop culture, but there are too many monks to make porridge, and they often need to be rushed, and the time limit is limited, which is not available.
The newly launched "Ace" can be understood as an upgraded version of "Airbnb Exclusive", which allows more unique listings and experiences to stay in and more users to stay.
Naturally, the booking method of "Ace" will be slightly different from ordinary listings.
The launch time of each "ace" is presented in the form of a countdown in the Airbnb app. When the button is lit, users from all over the world, including mainland users, can apply for a reservation, select a date, add companions, and answer the reason for the request.
Airbnb selects a random group of applicants, and then decides the lucky users based on the reason for applying based on three dimensions: whether the application content has a unique perspective, whether it loves traveling, and whether it is closely related to the "ace".
It can be said that this is a two-way rush between "true love fans" and works.
Successful applicants will receive an electronic version of the golden admission ticket, which is full of ceremonies. In 2024, Airbnb will issue more than 4,000 Golden tickets.
"Ace" has its own topicality and mass base, and of course it has the effect of drainage. However, Airbnb isn't all about momentary buzz.
Kong Zhiqiu, head of Airbnb's China business, told us that Airbnb wanted to provide a "day-to-day" cultural experience.
People don't just think about Airbnb when they travel, they can also turn their dreams into reality through Airbnb because they love sports, music, and movies.
This coincides with a travel trend observed by Airbnb – China's Gen Z loves "hobby travel" for more purpose than destination, and may travel abroad for a concert or comic con exhibition.
However, it's not just Gen Z who travel out of interest and are influenced by cultural works. Martial arts novels and Hong Kong movies, a generation has a generation's cultural memory.
So it can also be seen that the 11 "trump cards" that started are very diverse, covering all ages, such as music superstar Prince, who became famous before the millennial generation was born.
Kong Zhiqiu explained that Airbnb's philosophy is that it hopes that "aces" can turn everyone's dreams into reality, so they will consider different age groups, regions, interests and hobbies.
In the future, Airbnb will continue to launch more "trump cards" around the world.
When asked if he was worried about a certain "trump card", Kong Zhiqiu replied that pop culture transcends time, geography and people, and the life cycle is free and endless.
Some of the "aces" are classics, such as "Flying House", some are fashionable, such as the Olympics, and more importantly, they are diverse and One of a Kind.
Inherited from "Airbnb Exclusive", "Ace" has the same mission of convincing users that more unique experiences can still only be found on Airbnb.
My heart is my hometown
In 2007, Airbnb started with just three guests, and the founders came up with a bold idea: a home could be shared with different people around the world, and hosts could become great friends with guests.
Since then, Airbnb has continued this concept with technology and products, designing a trust system that allows strangers to live together, making it possible for the world to work.
Starting in 2022, Airbnb is fully committed to outbound travel. For mainland users, one of Airbnb's basic features is to book overseas listings and experiences.
But Airbnb itself doesn't want to be seen as a mere trading platform. Twice a year, product updates are based on insights into what users want, or what we need when we travel.
In addition to the launch of the "Ace" category, Airbnb also paid attention to the trend of "multi-person travel", and launched new features such as shared wishlists, in-app pull groups, and itinerary invitations to help users better plan their trips.
Among them, the design of "Trip Invitation" is particularly outstanding, after the user books the trip, the order is sent to a friend in the same company, and the sharing is displayed in the form of a postcard drawn by the artist.
Travel is exciting in itself, and these postcards are like saying, please follow me into a more colorful world. Before the body travels, the five senses are already mobilized.
From the "trump card" to the small updates to features, Airbnb has always been the Airbnb that cares about how people feel and how people connect.
A good product should pay attention to every detail and consistently convey a good feeling of use online and offline.
Brian Chesky said, "Airbnb brings people into other people's worlds." Airbnb lets you live in a local home, connect with hosts, fellow friends, locals, and where you go and who you go with matters.
The "trump card" category may be more personal and personal than previous travel experiences, but it is also a connection: a connection to oneself, a connection to the real and digital worlds, a connection between the outer and inner worlds.
Airbnb has observed that in recent years, people have become anxious because of a number of external factors. Then, we need to find a special sense of belonging that transcends the ordinary in our deep personal experience.
We can't have superpowers like the X-Men, we can't win at Fiorano like a racer, we can't look out over the Sennar from the clock tower for decades, but we can respond to the relief and strength of our former selves, who have dreamed of superheroes or fantasized about being race car drivers.
That's probably the most unique part of Airbnb, elevating travel to the pursuit of a spiritual life, seeing the world, seeing all beings, and seeing yourself.
No matter how far apart we are, we can set out because of our inner calling, live in a house where we feel like we belong and feel part of a group, community, culture or environment, where we are accepted and supported, and enjoy traveling.
The world is so big, but everyone is not alone, just like we who were born in the same land, can love different pop cultures around the world, and go far away but still under the same sky.
Zhang Chengchen
If the autumn frost is good, it will ward off the evil. Work email: [email protected]
P.O. Box 8
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