This is so awesome. I hope one day I’m in the position to be on the giving end of something like that. Seeing those people get so excited and happy has got to be one of the best feelings ever.
This has been circulating on my Facebook wall over the last few days. This is the first time I’ve actually watched it. I am bawling. This is wonderful.
Very cool. Quite a feat of logistics. I’d love to know how they handled passengers who didn’t check luggage (and, therefore, didn’t need to stop at baggage claim). I like how Santa handled people who asked for the moon and stars (as shown in the bloopers reel).
“I can’t help but feel sorry for the man who said he wanted socks and underwear!”
Yeah but he got some *really* nice socks and underwear.
I have to say this is a product-placement filled piece of viral video bait . . . . . and it still warms me down to the cockles – nay, the sub-cockles of my heart.
How funny, I didn’t even notice the blue! I spent a few years living in St. Petersburg, Russia, and their gift-giver is Grandfather Frost, who comes on New Year’s. He is sometimes depicted in red, but often in blue (cold/frost, right?) and it seemed totally normal to me.
Hmm…..good to know. I’ve seen Victorian Santa Clauses in blue outfits, but never a modern one. Anyway, I think this was a nice idea, but it would have been nicer to put the “Santa booth” in a low-income neighbourhood, or a shelter, or some place where there are people in need. I don’t want to make any sweeping generalizations, but if we were to draw a Venn diagram of people you might find in an airport on a typical December day, and people who are struggling to purchase Christmas gifts for family members, there probably wouldn’t be much overlap. Also, it kind of stuck in my craw the way “Santa Claus” fulfilled the Hughes’ wish for the big-screen television, but didn’t get their young son the toy train he asked for.
Sorry, the last Anonymous, are you saying that Westjet should be criticised for this excellent advertising example just because you can’t be bothered Googling the amount of social assistance they already provide? In that case, allow me to do it for you: http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/community-investment/index.shtml
And your latter point is confusing. Do you think we saw all the presents they give out? There were quite a lot of people gathered around the carousel and not all of them were shown receiving their presents. So who’s to say they didn’t give the boy his train ‘off-screen’ as it were, and just not chose to show it? Or else perhaps they decided that a big-screen TV was enough for one family and they didn’t need to supply everything.
Wonderful video! Better to see a company spend their advertising dollars making people happy, rather than wasting them on advertisements we all tune out by this point.
Btw, if anyone is looking for the song, it seems to be “Santa’s Coming Tonight” by Henrik Wikstrom. Amazon has the mp3.
KB, I don’t need social assistance, but fair point. WestJet did a good thing, and it didn’t even occur to me that they provided social assistance, but that’s really cool that they do. Also, Merryns, I missed the part with the Thomas train set, in the frenzy of all the employees running through the stores and grabbing things, but I’m glad that the little boy got the train he wanted. So, I changed my mind–unreserved props to WestJet for a really nice Christmas gift for a lot of people.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I heard about this on the radio yesterday. Awesome!
I can’t help but feel sorry for the man who said he wanted socks and underwear!
This is so awesome. I hope one day I’m in the position to be on the giving end of something like that. Seeing those people get so excited and happy has got to be one of the best feelings ever.
This has been circulating on my Facebook wall over the last few days. This is the first time I’ve actually watched it. I am bawling. This is wonderful.
I heard about this as well. Amazing!
Now that is wonderful!
Very cool. Quite a feat of logistics. I’d love to know how they handled passengers who didn’t check luggage (and, therefore, didn’t need to stop at baggage claim). I like how Santa handled people who asked for the moon and stars (as shown in the bloopers reel).
“I can’t help but feel sorry for the man who said he wanted socks and underwear!”
Yeah but he got some *really* nice socks and underwear.
I have to say this is a product-placement filled piece of viral video bait . . . . . and it still warms me down to the cockles – nay, the sub-cockles of my heart.
That guy was a good sport about the socks and underwear, haha.
Why is Santa Claus dressed in blue, and why are people wearing blue Santa hats? What happened to red?
Precious! Absolutely precious!
“Why is Santa Claus dressed in blue, and why are people wearing blue Santa hats? What happened to red?”
I would guess that they’re wearing blue since it’s the company color of the airline.
Anonymous – that’s Westjet’s corporate colour. It’s just branding.
Blue is WestJet’s brand colour. That’s my guess why they went with blue instead of red.
Anonymous – Santa and the elves are in the colours of Westjet – turquoise and navy blue.
In the blooper reel, Santa said he wears blue except on Christmas Eve when he wears red “like a firetruck” so the airplanes can see him.
How funny, I didn’t even notice the blue! I spent a few years living in St. Petersburg, Russia, and their gift-giver is Grandfather Frost, who comes on New Year’s. He is sometimes depicted in red, but often in blue (cold/frost, right?) and it seemed totally normal to me.
Hmm…..good to know. I’ve seen Victorian Santa Clauses in blue outfits, but never a modern one. Anyway, I think this was a nice idea, but it would have been nicer to put the “Santa booth” in a low-income neighbourhood, or a shelter, or some place where there are people in need. I don’t want to make any sweeping generalizations, but if we were to draw a Venn diagram of people you might find in an airport on a typical December day, and people who are struggling to purchase Christmas gifts for family members, there probably wouldn’t be much overlap. Also, it kind of stuck in my craw the way “Santa Claus” fulfilled the Hughes’ wish for the big-screen television, but didn’t get their young son the toy train he asked for.
Sorry, the last Anonymous, are you saying that Westjet should be criticised for this excellent advertising example just because you can’t be bothered Googling the amount of social assistance they already provide? In that case, allow me to do it for you: http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/about/community-investment/index.shtml
And your latter point is confusing. Do you think we saw all the presents they give out? There were quite a lot of people gathered around the carousel and not all of them were shown receiving their presents. So who’s to say they didn’t give the boy his train ‘off-screen’ as it were, and just not chose to show it? Or else perhaps they decided that a big-screen TV was enough for one family and they didn’t need to supply everything.
Just a thought.
The video shows a worker grabbing a Thomas train toy set, zo I think the boy did get his train.
Wonderful video! Better to see a company spend their advertising dollars making people happy, rather than wasting them on advertisements we all tune out by this point.
Btw, if anyone is looking for the song, it seems to be “Santa’s Coming Tonight” by Henrik Wikstrom. Amazon has the mp3.
KB, I don’t need social assistance, but fair point. WestJet did a good thing, and it didn’t even occur to me that they provided social assistance, but that’s really cool that they do. Also, Merryns, I missed the part with the Thomas train set, in the frenzy of all the employees running through the stores and grabbing things, but I’m glad that the little boy got the train he wanted. So, I changed my mind–unreserved props to WestJet for a really nice Christmas gift for a lot of people.
I love advertisements like this! Talk about the right way for a company to get press! Thanks for sharing, Admin.
It is so sweet! It’s great to see so many kindhearted people.