Switzerland Tourism’s latest commercial features a star studded cast of Roger Federer and Anne Hathaway. Photo / Supplied

OPINION

When you think of celebrities promoting a national organisation in impressively awkward ways, a certain airline’s iconic safety videos may come to mind.

Fortunately, Aotearoa isn’t the only country willing to cause agonising amounts of cringe in an effort to engage audiences.

In May 2021, Switzerland Tourism got Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer together with American actor Robert De Niro for a 90-second commercial to promote travel to the country.

Taking a surprisingly self-deprecating angle, the video showed Federer trying to convince De Niro to feature in a Switzerland Tourism ad. However, as an actor who loves drama, De Niro declined, claiming the destination was too peaceful, relaxing and serene.

Within hours, the light-hearted video went viral and became the most successful European advertising film of the previous year with recognition at the Cannes Lions Festival. So, it’s no surprise Switzerland Tourism made like Hollywood and tried for a sequel.

The result, put kindly, is pretty awkward.

Evidently taking the ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ approach, the new commercial shows Federer with yet another American movie star, Anne Hathaway, who took De Niro’s place.

However, issues arise when they watch the ad together and realise all identifiable shots of them have been cut, leaving only wide, landscape shots.

No one, as the title of the video indicates, upstages the Grand Tour of Switzerland.

Like De Niro, Hathaway plays the role flawlessly. Unsurprisingly, it’s the performance from the athlete with little acting experience that propels the gimmicky take into painful levels of cringe.

To be clear, this is no dig at Federer. In the same way, if you set the Oscar-winning actress against him on the court, you wouldn’t get a good tennis match. But, you would get a highly viewed one.

With 5.8 million views in just one day, it seems Tourism Switzerland’s ad has achieved the latter.

Is the video good? No, not particularly. In fact, it’s so bad it traps you in a trainwreck paradox where you both need Federer and Hathaway’s strained banter to end immediately and never, ever, stop.

However, it’s this exact quality that makes the film stand out in the industry.

While most tourism organisations employ flawless influencers and models who work hard to appear effortless, Switzerland Tourism’s take may just be the refreshingly transparently, proudly try-hard content we can all appreciate.