My take on Peninsula's short film

From the Blog, The Good, the Bad, and the Funky, by Yvette Jong, for HOTELSmag.com

The Peninsula Hotel short films, labeled as 'Peninsula Moments' moved me in the most unexpected way. In short — I cried.  Am I crazy? Did I just cry from an advertisement?

For those of you who have been following my blogs, you'll notice I tend to challenge ideas as a means to provoke thought from readers. I don't typically do this, but having just watched Peninsula's recent short film used as part of its new brand campaign, I felt I needed to share my two cents.

In short — I cried.  Am I crazy? Did I just cry from an advertisement?

Now, I won't try to hide the fact that I'm an emotional person to begin with, but there was something about the video that really touched me. Was it the music? The fleet of Rolls-Royces? The Hong Kong scenery? Or was it the use of young, wide-eyed bellmen and butlers (or actors, for all I know) who portrayed a sense of belonging to a company and the modesty of delivering traditional service. While some might come away from this video thinking Peninsula is about luxury and customized or culturally distinguished experiences, all I could think was, "Look at how proud that bellman is. If he's that proud to be working there and providing great service, I want to be on the receiving end.

On a side note, I also invite you to watch the Portlandia clip on "Deuce Hotel." For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Portlandia was started by two Saturday Night Live actors whose short skits take a jab at hipsters in the States. "Deuce Hotel" is classic in that it captures what too many hotels try to be — too cool for school, all talk, little action. And if you can figure out the reference in the name, you get bragging rights!  


Craft House Founder and Director, Yvette Jong, contributes regularly to her HOTELS Magazine Blog titled, "The Good, the Bad and the Funky." Topics of discussion include all aspects of hospitality development, operations, branding, marketing, human resources, sustainability and much more.