Zac Efron, Jessica Alba star in bizarre Dubai tourism ad

A-listers Zac Efron and Jessica Alba have posted videos that seem to be spruiking Dubai tourism — but it’s not totally clear what’s going on.

Is it a movie? Or is it an ad? And will it encourage tourism to Dubai post-pandemic?

Zac Efron and Jessica Alba are the faces of a new Dubai tourism ad, created in the style of a blockbuster movie trailer.

While the ad looks expensive, it’s a little confusing – it seems to be lacking in any real pitch for the Emirati city, let alone a storyline. There’s some disjointed fighting scenes, a couple of spoken lines but it barely shows off Dubai as a tourism destination apart from a few token shots of landmarks.

There are some scenes of Burj Khalifa and Museum of the Future’s NuvaRing, and the pair skydiving off the Burj Al Arab, but the ad falls short of any of Dubai’s other selling points.

Efron shared the trailer on his Instagram, with the caption, “She’s always getting me out of trouble…” while Alba posted it on hers with, “He’s always getting me into trouble.”

Earlier the pair had teased the ad on their social media accounts with some behind-the-scenes images.

The Daily Mail reported in February this year Efron had been “quarantining in a multimillion dollar Spanish-style mansion since arriving back in Sydney under heavy police guard” after a quick trip to Dubai.

Dubai Tourism has enlisted big name stars in the past – Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson and Zoe Saldana all starred in a campaign two years ago.

Dubai reopened to visitors in August last year, but all arrivals must have valid health insurance and a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before departure. Visitors from more than 50 countries must take an additional test on arrival.

The UAE has opened up quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated travellers from the Seychelles, Bahrain, Serbia, Italy and Greece.

More than 70 per cent of the UAE’s population is fully vaccinated, however at the end of June, the US advised its citizens not to travel due to rises in Covid cases, and the nation remains on the UK’s red list.

This article originally appeared on the New Zealand Herald and was reproduced with permission