Why Icelandair is running a ‘This is not AI’ campaign

Last year, marketers at Icelandair began noticing a worrying trend. Consumers had been debating the veracity of photographs of Iceland that the airline and other photographers were posting, including an image of a volcanic eruption captured in front of the Northern Lights that was posted to social media. “There was discussion if it was AI or reality and it started there,” said Gisli Brynjolfsson, director of marketing. In response to the trend, the brand created a new “This is not AI” campaign that highlights the authentic beauty of Iceland and travel. Ads began appearing today. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Icelandair (@icelandair) “It’s not about the AI—it’s more about the authenticity and realness,” said Brynjolfsson. Such authenticity is at the root of popular travel trends, such as JOMO (which stands for the joy of missing out), or so-called slow travel, which refers to travelers immersing themselves in a location—not just going to the sites but getting in touch with local cultures. Brynjolfsson added that the brand is also seeing photos posted online that are tagged as being of Iceland but are manipulated. Also: OpenAI and Google’s demand for brands’ copyrighted content challenges marketers “This is something that worries us,” he said. “It’s important that people trust us that what we put out there is genuinely Iceland and in no way manipulated or fake.” Last week, Icelandair posted a photo on Instagram of a hobbit-like house with the caption, “We know that some photos of Iceland look too good (or too crazy!) to be true, but we assure you that Iceland doesn’t need any AI enhancement.” The new campaign, created with Icelandic agency Hvita Husid, includes out-of-home, print and social media. Outdoor ads will appear in 13 cities, including seven in the U.S. and six in Europe. One ad appears to be an email addressed to “The guy who produces AI images of Iceland” simply asking, “Can we talk?” The campaign will also include open letters about AI usage to tech companies. To gauge consumer sentiment regarding AI in travel, Icelandair commissioned a study earlier this month that surveyed 4,000 adults in the U.S., France, Denmark and Germany. The report found that only 19% of travelers said they would book trips, services, accommodations or experiences if they knew the main promotional images were generated by AI. In addition, 48% of those surveyed said reviews that are “too good to be true” are “no-go’s” for booking travel. In the U.S., 52% feel destinations should not be allowed to use AI to enhance their marketing and tourism. “If the trust toward travel companies or airlines or anyone in our industry is going down, then we at least will not be part of that,” said Brynjolfsson. “This is something we would like to stand for.” He noted that Iceland is the “real unreal.” As marketers continue to use AI tools in creativity and back-end operations, some are finding success while others are facing criticism. Earlier this month, Puma began testing an AI-generated ad that still had some kinks, such as more than five fingers on a hand. Toys R Us faced backlash for its AI ad last year. Coca-Cola even incorporated AI concerns into a recent campaign. Brynjolfsson stressed that Icelandair isn’t against AI, but just in the right context. For example, its marketing department uses AI tools for translation and some initial copywriting. Data-Driven Marketing Playbook Join us May 22 in NYC to explore how data powers marketing Learn more here

Why Icelandair is running a ‘This is not AI’ campaign

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