8月，在美国与伊朗（及其各自的地区盟友）不断升级的战争持续了六个月之际，全球广告公司M+C Saatchi发布了一份新闻稿。经过“竞争激烈的多轮竞标流程”，该公司已成为拉斯海马旅游局的“创意机构合作伙伴”。拉斯海马是组成阿拉伯联合酋长国的七个酋长国之一。其北部海岸以金白色沙滩和红树林闻名，毗邻霍尔木兹海峡。
In August, six months into the escalating war between the United States and Iran (and their various regional allies), the global advertising agency M+C Saatchi put out a press release. It had become the “creative agency partner” for the Ras al-Khaimah tourism authority, following “a highly competitive multi-stage pitch process.”Ras al-Khaimah is among the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Its northern coasts, known for their golden-white-sand beaches and mangrove forests, abut the Strait of Hormuz.
本月，至少有二十多艘船只在试图穿过该海峡时遭到袭击，其中许多是运载原油和天然气的商业油轮。然而，无论打不打仗，M+C Saatchi都将致力于吸引游客来到这里。
At least two dozen vessels, many of them commercial tankers carrying crude oil and gas, have been attacked this month as they’ve tried to pass through the strait. But, war or no war, M+C Saatchi would endeavor to lure tourists here.
新闻稿指出，拉斯海马旅游局是“该地区最雄心勃勃的机构之一”，但未提及围绕附近海峡的持续冲突。相反，在一张年轻人坐在华丽地毯上、饮用彩色饮料、坐在俯瞰类似海峡水域的悬崖边缘的照片下方，文本宣布M+C Saatchi将在未来三年为该地区推出“全新目的地主张”。该机构之所以被选中，是因为它“对文化力量的信念”以及其“汇聚专家……在每个接触点实现联动思考”的能力。
The press release noted that the Ras al-Khaimah tourism authority was “one of the region’s most ambitious,” but it did not mention the ongoing conflict centered on the nearby strait. Instead—beneath a photograph of smiling young people sitting on sumptuous rugs and drinking colorful beverages on the edge of a cliff overlooking a strait-like body of water—text announced that M+C Saatchi would be launching “a new destination proposition” for the area over the following three years. The agency had been chosen, it explained, for its “belief in Cultural Power” and its ability to bring together “specialists . . . to deliver connected thinking across every touchpoint.”
另一份M+C Saatchi内部文件是一份提案请求书，邀请内容创作者提出“改变人们对战争地区认知”的目的地宣传活动，通过“目的地叙事的全新方式”。该文件设想了一种“观察性、新闻化的方法”，其感觉“更像一部精心制作的纪录片，而非旅游广告”。具体是什么样的纪录片？“想想安东尼·博登的好奇心”，文件在博登戴着墨镜、探身火车窗外的照片下方写道，旁边配有星空、海中游泳者以及站在广阔山脊上的登山者的股票图片。
A separate M+C Saatchi document—this one internal—was a request for proposals, inviting content creators to come up with “a destination campaign that changes how people think” about the war zone, through “a fresh approach to destination storytelling.”It envisioned a campaign with an “observational, journalistic approach” that “feels more like a beautifully crafted documentary than a tourism commercial.”What kind of documentary, exactly? “Think Anthony Bourdain’s curiosity,” the brief went on, under a photo of Bourdain in sunglasses, leaning out of a train window, alongside stock images of starry skies, ocean swimmers, and a mountain climber on a sweeping ridge.
“空间。发现。对比”，文件随后笼统地继续写道。期望的基调？“旅行日记的情感真诚”。文件建议投标者“如果意外之事能揭示更深层的真相，就应愿意去追随它”。说明最后写道，“展示那些在其他地方无法发生的瞬间。”一位看到该内部M+C Saatchi文件的摄影师怀疑它是由人工智能生成的。“博登那部分是AI的明显标志，”他说。
“Space. Discovery. Contrast,” the document continued vaguely. Desired tone? “The emotional honesty of a travel journal.”Project bidders were advised to “be comfortable following something unexpected if it reveals a better truth.”The instructions concluded, “Show us moments that couldn’t happen anywhere else.”One photographer who saw the internal M+C Saatchi document suspected that it had been created by artificial intelligence. “The Bourdain bit was a dead giveaway for A.I.,” he said.
“来，别闹了。”他继续说，“如果他们想让人提出创意方向并拍摄广告——在一个战区——他们就得找一个有专业环形灯和能用的防空系统的内容创作者。”他补充道，“感觉很棘手。”特朗普总统最近在联合国表示，他正考虑是否要“消灭伊斯兰共和国”并“把他们送进地狱”，人们推测这对该地区的摄影师或游客不会有好处。
“Like, come on.”He went on, “If they want someone to come up with the creative direction and shoot the campaign—in a war zone—they’re gonna need to find a content creator with a solid ring light and a working air-defense system.”He added, “Feels fraught.”President Donald Trump recently told the United Nations that he was considering whether to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and “drive them into hell,” which, one presumes, would not bode well for photographers or tourists in the region.
另一位审阅了M+C Saatchi文件的摄影师说，“如果要求是在活跃的战区工作，你希望他们能坦率说明。我不得不谷歌搜索来确认。”一位曾看到该提案的旅游业资深人士说，“你不仅可能被炸，而且实际上是在把数百或数千其他人——游客——送进去。真是疯狂的时代。”据《》最近的一篇文章报道，这是一家报道房地产的中东新闻媒体，霍尔木兹海峡附近的酒店“有大量客房可供预订”。
Another photographer who reviewed M+C Saatchi’s document said, “If the request is to work in an active war zone, you’d like to think they’d be up front about it. I had to do a Google search to confirm.”A travel-industry veteran who saw the R.F.P. said, “Not only are you possibly getting bombed, but you’re basically sending hundreds or thousands of other people—tourists—into it. Wild times.”According to a recent article in , a Middle Eastern news outlet that covers real estate, there are “lots of rooms available” in hotels “overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.”
位于阿曼、刚好跨过边境的四星级阿兹穆特穆桑丹酒店，最近每晚房价为七十二美元。该酒店的在线介绍写道，“乘坐阿曼传统帆船（Dhow）沿霍尔木兹海峡海岸线航行。”位于海峡西南六十公里的人工岛上、价值数十亿美元的Wynn al-Marjan岛博彩度假村的建设也有所放缓。一位Wynn高管今年早些时候在一次沉闷的财报电话会议上对投资者说，“这种情况可能会有变化。”
A room at the four-star Azimut Hotel Musandam, just across the border, in Oman, was recently going for seventy-two dollars a night. An online writeup of the hotel said, “Ride an Omani Dhow cruising the sea coast in the Strait of Hormuz.”The construction of the Wynn al-Marjan Island, a multibillion-dollar gaming resort on a man-made island sixty miles southwest of the strait, has also slowed. “This picture could shift,” a Wynn executive told investors earlier this year, during a dour earnings call.
不过，霍尔木兹海峡周边的旅游业尚未完全停滞。最近对预算型拉斯海玛酒店的一篇评论称其为“完美的居家度假选择”，尽管评论中也提到“游泳池只是一般”。
Still, tourism around the strait has not completely ground to a halt. A recent review of the budget-tier Ras al-Khaimah Hotel described it as a “perfect staycation,” despite the fact that “the swimming pool is average.”