Visit ihavethebug.com to take a quiz and find out whether you’ve got the “travel bug.” The exercise — short, playful and mildly entertaining — serves two purposes: to flatter you and drive you to the Travel Channel. (If so inclined, note requisite Facebook tie-in at bottom left. What, don’t you want all your friends to know you’ve got “excellent gumption, chutzpah”?)
Internet stuff put together by Razorfish. The Travel Bug TV spot, orchestrated by Moroch, is done in a faux-serious Big Pharma tone. You’ve got sufferers, playfully agonized; you’ve got gratuitous shots of people running on beaches. The Travel Channel’s the cure, but like all drugs, you’re warned it may only aggravate the symptoms.
Ad’s expectedly corny, even a little dated in its humour; but the site quiz ties the gimmick back to Travel Channel shows well enough. At the very least, it sparked discussion: last night me and a friend were all, “What exactly is a sexy beach?” Verdict’s still out.
