SkiftAds of the Week: Turkish Airlines' push, Rihanna, and the Ritz

For all of our SkiftAds of the Week collection, check out our archives here.

This week's roundup of travel video ads features a motley combination of Rihanna debuting as the face of tourism in Barbados, Canada trying to steal tourists away from America, and a bunch of fried-chicken-eating Kentuckians trying to change their state logo.

Barbados Tourist Authority: This is the first ad we’ve seen since Rihanna signed a three-year contract with the Barbados tourism board. The star is a natural choice seeing as she’s the most well-known native in pop culture today, but the ad is little more than a reworked music video with the Barbados tourism logo slapped on.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axdlMyLIrPE]

Ritz-Carlton:  The hotel’s ‘holiday card’ simply and artistically displays aspects of the countries where Ritz properties are located. The invigorating classical music pushes the ad along, despite the simple graphics.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXfwFYeCCR0]

Canada Tourism: This is another spin on Canada’s hugely successful Keep Exploring ad launched earlier this year that tries to show travelers as naturally as possible. This time piggybacking on popularity of the US as a tourist destination, the ad suggests that the real travel treat is just across the border.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ6oYWj8gUg]

Turkish Airlines: The airline is throwing some major dollars behind its advertising campaigns right, as seen with the success of the Kobe/Messi ad. This video highlights the destinations that TA travels to and ties it to its “Globally yours” mantra by engaging travelers from around the world.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMngCZ-rWKE]

Kentucky for Kentucky: The grassroots effort of this group caught the attention of state tourism officials after a failed crowdsourcing effort to buy a Super Bowl ad earlier this year. The team behind the video has now launched a full social media campaign to rebrand Kentucky as the most "kick-ass" state in America.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK2xh43NLKM]