Airports are perhaps the least jolly of locales during the holiday season, generally filled with disgruntled people facing delays and other mishaps. But, thanks to WestJet, one gaggle of weary travelers were treated to a Christmas miracle that turned an airport into Santa's workshop.
The Canadian airline, with the help of a virtual and tech-savvy Santa Claus, learned what passengers at the Toronto and Hamilton International Airports — who were waiting to board flights to Calgary — had on their Christmas wishlists this year. Once everyone boarded their planes, the WestJet team also took off — on shopping sprees, that is.
See also: How to Track Santa Online
The more than 150 WestJet employees played the part of Santa's elves, gathering personalized presents, wrapping them and delivering them to the Calgary airport before the unsuspecting recipients landed. Upon arrival, the travelers received nothing short of a holiday miracle at baggage claim.
The entire event was captured via hidden cameras and turned into an ad mimicking the poem commonly known as The Night Before Christmas.
This wasn't WestJet's first foray into spreading airport Christmas cheer. Last year, the airline created a Christmas-themed flash mob, complete with dancing elves, in the middle of an airport. The video received almost a half million views, leading the airline to donate flights to a family in need through their community investment program.
This year, WestJet will donate flights if the video receives at least 200,000 YouTube views.
WestJet's Vice-President of Communications and Community Relations Richard Bartrem explains the process of planning the company's Christmas extravaganza in the video below:
And some of Santa'a bloopers were caught on video here:
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BONUS: The Most-Shared Ads of 2013
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OK it was fake, but it was fun: Nascar driver Jeff Gordon goes incognito for a test drive and an actor does a great job pretending to be freaked out.
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Another ad that proves that you don't have to (try to) be funny to be remembered during the Super Bowl. The ad was a rip off of an older one, but this one was much better.
A latecomer, Jean-Claude Van Damme's was the split that was seen round the Internet. People couldn't help passing it around, even though it wasn't nearly as dangerous as it looked.
This ad had everything, including babes, blood and ultraviolence. It's not clear it sold a lot of vodka though.
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An HD dose of aww from the maker of the popular camera.
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An adorable dancing pony. Need we say more?
Guy Ritchie figures out a way to film David Beckham running around in his underwear.
You didn't think we could get through this list without one videogame ad, did you?
A step-by-step guide on how to lend games to friends.
Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg, among other tech luminaries, make a pitch for teaching coding .
Image: YouTube, WestJet
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