Airbnb has a new commercial out called Stay Grounded, animated in its signature whimsical style, set to George Michael’s Freedom! ’90, and produced once again by creative studio Buck. At first glance, it looks like an introduction to Airbnb Services, the company’s newest vertical. But zoom out, and this campaign represents something bigger: the official unveiling of Airbnb as a lifestyle platform.
This moment is important not only because it signals a fresh revenue stream for Airbnb, but also because it reshapes guest expectations, and potentially alters how professional managers operate within the Airbnb ecosystem.
The Ad: What Happens on Screen
The spot begins in a rustic kitchen where a family is preparing a meal. In a flourish of flour, a chef materializes in the garden, holding a board of wine, bread, cheeses, and grapes. We then pan up to a snow-covered chalet, where skiers glide past. A woman pulls off her goggles, and the snowy ground flips to reveal a massage table and a masseuse.
The camera lifts again, this time to a glass-walled home in the clouds, where three people and a dog stretch on yoga mats. Floating in the foreground, a yoga teacher balances in a challenging pose while a dove lands on his shoulder.
The final frame reveals the strategic message: not just Services, but the full Airbnb ecosystem — Homes, Experiences, and Services — presented together with new icons on the Airbnb app.
The accompanying voiceover is:
Say you get a home on Airbnb with a chef’s kitchen.
Now you can get a chef on Airbnb to cook in it.
Or if you get a ski house,
now you can get an après-ski massage.
Or if you get a place in the clouds,
now you can get a yoga teacher to keep you grounded.
Homes, experiences, and services.
Now you can Airbnb more than an Airbnb.
Why the Airbnb Stay Grounded Ad Marks the Official Launch
Industry observers and property managers have long discussed Airbnb’s evolution beyond stays. The company has steadily layered on new features, from Experiences to Services, and even social elements like Airbnb Connections, signaling a pivot toward becoming a lifestyle platform.
But until now, those moves were largely invisible to the average Airbnb user. A guest browsing for a weekend getaway would have seen homes and perhaps a few Experiences, without any sense of Airbnb’s larger identity shift.
That’s what makes the Stay Grounded campaign significant. For the first time, Airbnb is presenting its expanded universe directly to the end user. The closing frame doesn’t just showcase Services, it deliberately places Homes, Experiences, and Services side by side, establishing Airbnb not simply as a booking channel, but as a hub for travel, living, and connection.
In short: insiders have been talking about this for years, but this ad is the moment Airbnb officially declares its bigger ambition to the world.
Which Song Is Used in Airbnb’s Stay Grounded Commercial?
The soundtrack to Airbnb’s Stay Grounded commercial is “Freedom! ’90” by George Michael. The 1990 anthem is instantly recognizable, carrying both nostalgic weight and cultural credibility.
Airbnb’s choice of this track reflects a deliberate alignment between the music and the company’s evolving identity:
- Freedom as core brand promise. The refrain “freedom” ties directly to Airbnb’s message of flexibility, independence, and the ability to choose not just where you stay, but how you experience travel.
- Breaking away from old models. George Michael wrote Freedom! ’90 as a rejection of the manufactured pop-star system. In much the same way, Airbnb positions itself as breaking away from traditional hotels and rigid itineraries, offering travelers an alternative model.
- Big cultural anthem for a big moment. Airbnb uses this song to signal that Stay Grounded isn’t a small product ad. It’s a milestone campaign and the official arrival of Airbnb as a lifestyle platform.
Beyond Services: Airbnb’s Lifestyle Platform Strategy
On the surface, Stay Grounded is about promoting chefs, massages, and yoga sessions you can book through the app. But the end card makes the bigger play clear: Airbnb wants to be more than a booking site for stays.
As we’ve previously reported, Chesky has described this evolution as Airbnb’s version of Amazon’s playbook, starting with stays, then expanding into services and community engagement until Airbnb becomes an ‘everything store’ for travel and living.
This ad is the most public-facing proof yet of a strategy Airbnb has been building toward for years:
- Expanding the ecosystem. Airbnb is weaving Homes, Experiences, and now Services into a seamless marketplace, positioning itself as the “Amazon for travel.”
- Capturing new revenue streams. Services create additional monetization opportunities that go beyond nightly stays.
- Closing the loop. With Homes, Experiences, Services, and the new Connections feature, Airbnb is steadily reducing reasons for users to leave its platform. This dovetails with Airbnb’s social push, features like Connections turn one-off trips into ongoing relationships, making the platform habit-forming rather than seasonal.
- Future-proofing demand. If global travel slows due to rising airfare or economic uncertainty, Airbnb can still attract users with lower-ticket service bookings, including locals who don’t need to travel at all.
As we’ve analyzed before, this isn’t just about diversifying revenue. It’s also a shift in host operations, since listings are opted in by default, effectively making Airbnb Services part of the stay experience whether managers planned for it or not.
Why Services Matter Beyond the Stay
Airbnb Services extend the brand’s reach in several important ways:
- Lower commitment for guests. Not everyone is ready to book a weeklong vacation. A cooking session or yoga class is an easier entry point.
- Local engagement. Services can be booked at home, making Airbnb useful to people even when they aren’t traveling.
- Resilience to external shocks. If flight costs rise or borders close, Airbnb can still capture demand through service bookings.
- Deeper guest stickiness. By providing reasons to open the app between major trips, Airbnb strengthens long-term user loyalty.
While the Services catalog remains limited, Airbnb’s marketing weight shows it sees this as more than an experiment. It’s laying the groundwork for category creation.
What This Means for Professional Managers
For property managers, the Stay Grounded campaign signals that Airbnb is raising the bar for what it means to deliver an “Airbnb experience.” Guests may increasingly expect extras, whether that’s in-home services, curated wellness add-ons, or partnerships with local providers.
It also underlines Airbnb’s ambition to own the guest relationship end to end. Managers should watch carefully how Airbnb rolls out Services: How much of the service economy does Airbnb intend to capture for itself?
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