The Vienna Tourist Board has identified a health problem for US travellers – Post-Vienna-Blues (PVB), a psychological phenomenon that can occur after a trip to Vienna with all its opulence. The campaign by Jung von Matt DONAU plays on the idea that visitors will experience a profound feeling of melancholy, nostalgic daydreams and emotional restlessness upon returning home.
The tongue-in-cheek campaign launched this week in the United States, with a prominent billboard in New York’s Times Square that will run until mid-June. Campaign elements will also be displayed on 70 digital bus shelters and newsstands throughout Manhattan. Online and social media advertising will target New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and, for the first time, Boston, due to a new direct flight connection from Austrian Airlines starting in July 2024. In Canada, the focus will be on Toronto and Montreal.
Additionally, in cooperation with Austrian Airlines and the Vienna Airport, international visitors departing Vienna will be farewelled humorously in lounges with the message, “Sorry, I gave you Post-Vienna-Blues.” Vienna tourist sites will also post the creative on their social channels, and the Vienna Tourist Board will offer a PVB “symptom check” at post.vienna.info. The website also reframes major attractions satirically as “high-risk locations” and identifies “triggers,” including Vienna’s 2,000 coffee houses, 27 castles, 163 palaces, and more than 100 museums over approximately 160 square miles.
The idea for the campaign has been sparked by a recent social media focus on post-vacation blues, characterised by feelings of melancholia or disconnection upon returning from a trip. Discussions surrounding its impact on mental well-being have sparked this creative campaign which offers concrete solutions and support systems.
Stefan Bauernberger, creative director of Jung von Matt DONAU, explained, “The bold decision to emphasise the negative consequences a trip to Vienna can have, makes this tourism campaign so exceptional. It dares to differ, both conceptually and visually, while aiming to attract an audience that is not afraid to take risks.”
Creative has a fashion-photography style, with photographer, Tereza Mundilová, known for shooting Heidi and Leni Klum’s German Vogue cover, capturing the main campaign motifs. The campaign features three different protagonists shown when Vienna dazzles them with its opulence and thus triggers PVB. Opulent locations like Schönbrunn Palace, Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss at the Upper Belvedere, and pastries from K.u.K. Hofzuckerbäckerei Demel all show off Vienna’s grandeur.
“In launching this campaign our objective is clear – to craft a witty narrative that captures Vienna’s breathtaking allure in a truly distinctive manner,” stated Norbert Kettner, CEO of the Vienna Tourist Board. “We want to remind people that Vienna is a city that stays with you, it lingers in the hearts and minds of visitors long after their departure.”
The campaign follows previous innovative and successful initiatives created in close collaboration with lead agency Jung von Matt DONAU, including the provocative Vienna Strips on OnlyFans” (2021), Unartificial Art (2023), and microdose vienna (2024)
