Let’s get Lit! The Super Bowl ad campaign starring Idris Elba for booking.com, shot by Belgian photographer Jan Opdekamp
What a crazy journey it has been for our talent/photographer Jan Opdekamp shooting still photography for the latest Super Bowl campaign by booking.com. The digital travel leader that makes it easier for everyone to experience the world, has never claimed to be “flashy, sexy or lit,” but focuses on being really great at one thing – booking travelers the perfect vacation. With a travel industry full of talkers, in a new ad campaign starring Golden Globe-winning and Emmy nominated actor, filmmaker, and musician Idris Elba, Booking.com acknowledges that while the brand may not be “sexy,” the platform is reliable, simple, helpful, and functional so travelers can be free to experience the world, which is ultimately what Booking.com finds “sexy.” A revival of the beloved
Booking.yeah campaign, the ad will air live for the first time during the upcoming “big game” on February 13,
during which Booking.com will be giving away up to half a million dollars in vacations.
It all started at the beginning of 2021 when Booking.com assigned Jan as their still photographer during a first campaign produced by Caviar. A perfect match, as Booking.com and Jan continued their journey after shooting a couple of other campaigns. These successful collaborations led up to trusting him with their biggest ad yet, the big game! The Super Bowl Ad Campaign 2022 starring Idris Elba! The beginning of a venture never to forget.
A shoot across Europe, where Jan started in London, shooting Idris Elba in a green screen studio with lots of movement, extremely dim light and a silent shutter. To end up shooting plates for the backgrounds in Spain.
A serious challenge that he took on with both hands.
Due to the technical challenges, thinking ahead together with his experienced team of assistants was essential. This way he succeeded in collecting the necessary images to merge them into complex composites. Resulting in 6 final campaign images capturing the atmosphere of the video Ad.
Being nicknamed ‘ The Silent Assassin ‘ by the creatives at Booking.com, Jan wanted to live up to that name by finding the right balance between being as invisible as possible on set, yet making sure the perfect picture was captured as desired.