If you had walked into R29's offices around 3 p.m., the sound of simultaneous snuffling might have you thinking we're collective Debbie Downers. Not so — just blame travel site Expedia, whose latest video in its "Find Yours" ad campaign, "Find Your Understanding," explores the hot-topic issue of same-sex marriage in a soulful and thoughtful three-minute roller-coaster ride of emotions. Continuing its strident support of marriage equality, Expedia's clip details the personal journey of real-life dad Artie Goldstein coming to terms with his daughter Jill's upcoming wedding to another woman, Nikki.
Accompanied by beautiful camera work, the flick expertly manages to capture Goldstein's long journey of acceptance in a tight, polished narrative, starting with Goldstein — glancing over family photo albums of Jill as a young girl — stating, "My expectations of what Jill's life was going to be included a husband. So, when Nikki came to ask permission to marry our little girl, that startled me. I told her, 'This is not the dream I had for my daughter.'" Cut to the guaranteed-to-make-you-cry end, where Goldstein's voice is overlayed on wedding footage, "You come to terms with it...it's supposed to be this way."
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Dara Khosrowshahi, Expedia's chief executive officer, tells The Huffington Post that sharing Goldstein's self-discovery was a proud moment for the company: "At the heart of Artie’s story is the idea that travel is deeply personal. We’ve built our entire brand behind that idea. The trip to his daughter’s wedding changed his perspective on fatherhood, his daughter’s happiness, and her same-sex marriage." The video requires tissues, but those upcoming tears are the good kind — the ones that make you think Goldstein's trip is a flight the rest of the country can — and should — be taking.
Video: Via YouTube