Travel should be unique and rewarding, but for most travelers, the experience has become an impersonal and inauthentic slog through the same places, the same activities, and the same staged photos. In an effort to make the planning process more straightforward and convenient, the tourism industry has turned travel into a commoditized experience for the masses.

Airbnb is the antithesis of cookie-cutter travel. With Airbnb, travelers aren’t confined to the same standard thoroughfares and tourist traps. Instead, with help from their Airbnb host, travelers can experience a destination as if they live there.

Our idea was to show them the difference between these two modes of tourism simultaneously.

In a global first, we leveraged new 3D technology to execute a split-narrative cinematic experience. Wearing Airbnb bifocal glasses with adapted 3D technology, moviegoers could see two versions of the same trip simultaneously, tilting their heads up or down to change their view. Moviegoers could choose between “Live There,” the Airbnb local experience, juxtaposed with “Don’t Go There,” showing mass tourism.

Before our mini-movie began, audiences were prompted to don their Airbnb glasses and tilt their heads to change perspective. Our film asked, “How do you want to see Paris? How would you visit LA? How about Tokyo? Who do you want to spend time with? And when it’s all over, what would you want to remember?” as moviegoers experienced different ways to travel depending on their chosen view.

We worked with three cinema media companies to distribute our film alongside major summer movie releases.

Our split-screen film experiences garnered nearly 30 million total impressions across markets, demonstrating that Airbnb provides a more authentic way to travel.

Our effectiveness study showed a 150% increase in top-of-mind unaided awareness of the Airbnb brand among moviegoers surveyed, 70% higher than benchmark. In addition, 74% said Airbnb “helps me feel like a local when I travel” and 72% said Airbnb “helps inspire my travel plans”. 56% said they were likely to sign up on Airbnb’s site, 42% higher than those who weren’t exposed in the control group (US).

In only two weeks, we saw 11 trades pick up the story and 600 organic global social mentions. As one Twitter user put it, “Airbnb did the coolest preshow for Finding Dory… I’m stunned.”