• by Teresa Buyikian , 64 minutes ago

Club Med’s latest international brand campaign pushes back against our current always working grind culture with new ads that celebrate what a luxury free time can be.

Created with French agency BETC Paris, the brand’s new “The Art of Free Time” campaign dropped this past weekend and is running across TV, in-theater, digital, social and out-of-home in Europe, the U.S., Latin America and Asia. The effort illustrates “reclaiming holidays as a space for spontaneity, pleasure and self-expression.”

The quirky hero spot, seen here, shows guests “owning their free time” in Club Med’s beach and mountain resorts across the globe. The 60-second spot opens on a woman on horseback on a stunning tropical beach, except she is also reading a book. The whimsical scenes blend into one another as a woman is seen eating an ice cream cone while waterskiing, a family enjoys a frozen living room on a ski slope, and a couple on the beach plays chess with oysters on the half shell in place of pawns.

“With ‘The Art of Free Time’, Club Med is expressing a deep-rooted belief: in a world that constantly pushes us to produce, optimize and accelerate, free time has become one of our most precious commodities, “said Stéphane Maquaire, president and CEO of Club Med, in a release. “Since its beginnings, Club Med has championed a unique way of experiencing this time: more freely, more collectively and with a greater openness to the world. This campaign reflects the cultural strength of our brand and its strategic role in driving our growth.”

The playful ad was directed by French director Fleur Fortuné, known for her surreal, dreamlike visuals in film and in music videos.