Paris doesn’t belong to Emily, it belongs to everybody.
Contiki needed to sell more trips to Europe, so when Netflix announced the date for Emily in Paris season 3. We were briefed to convert this cultural momentum into European bookings.
We knew feeds would be saturated with Paris aesthetic because of it, but Netflix also turned Paris into a polished fantasy - filtered, fictional, and unattainable. A city owned by one fictional American. But travel isn’t about watching someone else’s story, it’s about becoming the main character in your own. So we decided to claim Paris back.
How? We challenged every Emily travelling with us (198) to document her real Paris story — romance, chaos, food fails, friendships, freedom — whatever felt authentically hers. No script. No stylist. No fantasy wardrobe budget. Just reality, elevated.
Instead of borrowing cultural relevance, we redistributed it. Their content became our campaign: a collective narrative that reframed Paris from fictional fantasy to lived experience. One heroine to hundreds of real protagonists.
Getting Everyone Involved
We didn’t stop at Emily. We invited every traveller to step into their own starring role: Paul in Paris; Sarah in Paris; Jayden in Paris. Because the point wasn’t the name, or about copying the show. The point was the ownership. We were letting every traveller own a Paris story of their own.
Earned Attention:
Two days into filming, production was unexpectedly paused due to external circumstances.
Even with only early-stage activation, the idea sparked national attention from Australia’s leading breakfast television program requesting to interview one of our real-life Emilys.
We never saw the true impact of Social Search, but 198 Emilys posting multiple real ‘Emily in Paris’ stories during peak-hype was bound to hijack our fair share of the attention.
…we even planned a trip, just for the mega fans
- illustrations for trip page experiences