Earlier this year, Airbnb – the online travel marketplace – unveiled a TV spot that encouraged people to consider visiting El Salvador, Haiti, and multiple African countries.
Rather than offering an everyday brand-building message, however, this commercial was fueled by a very different motivation: It constituted a clear riposte to derogatory comments attributed to President Donald Trump regarding the three destinations – or, in the alleged words of the Commander-in-Chief, “shithole countries” – in question.
The spot carries the tagline “We Accept”, and marked the latest in a growing number of political engagements on the part of the San Francisco-based...