Beach with the Best - Visit Myrtle Beach | Clapboard Ad Archive
Beach with the Best is an integrated campaign from Visit Myrtle Beach, developed in partnership with agency teams at MMGY, The Workshop, and Valiant Pictures, that injects sharp parody and comedic self-awareness into the crowded travel and leisure category by reimagining vacation advertising through the lens of live television news. Launched in the United States in 2022, this campaign ditches the expected montage of sunrises and sandy families for a format Clapboard classifies as FORMAT#12—Parody or Borrowed Format, with a mock news team on location as anchors reporting not on breaking headlines, but on the relatable mishaps, local characters, and quirky pleasures that define Myrtle Beach’s distinct charm. The anchors, whose dry delivery and winking comedic timing punctuate the work throughout, break the fourth wall, linger in awkward silences, and toss out intentionally confusing “beach” references that transform ordinary vacation moments into playful news bulletins, all while amplifying the joyful chaos and camaraderie found on the Carolina coast. Central to the narrative is an asset titled LIVE: Man Nets HUGE Fish from Myrtle Beach Pier!, a segment that draws in the local flavor by cheekily chronicling angler Blue Gil Gomez’s personal trophy catch as breaking news, blurring the line between real Myrtle Beach stories and the gleefully overblown world of TV reporting. By lampooning familiar media formats and layering in subtle production gags, the campaign sidesteps the formulaic earnestness that often plagues tourism spots, embracing instead an accessible humor and authenticity that resonate with domestic leisure travelers seeking destinations defined as much by memorable moments as by geographic location. Strategically, the campaign positions Myrtle Beach as a gathering place not simply for sun-seekers, but for the self-dubbed “best beachers”—those who value fun, community, and a sense of belonging that commercial beaches find hard to replicate. The brand proposition is rooted in invitation rather than exclusivity, using comedy to dissolve barriers and flatly differentiate Myrtle Beach from more sanitized, luxury, or high-adrenaline alternatives offered by peers like Hilton Head, Charleston, or Daytona. Backed by the consistent creative throughline of parody and self-aware storytelling, the campaign stitches together film, digital, and integrated assets that favor a sense of lived-in fun over travel-poster gloss, reinforcing Visit Myrtle Beach’s ambition to own summer through both authenticity and wit. The campaign earns 64/100 in Clapboard’s global creative archive. In an era when travel advertising too often clings to well-trodden cliches, Beach with the Best demonstrates that a brand can connect with audiences and redefine its market position by speaking confidently in the language of pop culture parody even as it leverages the quirks and real stories of its community.