25th September 2017
Written by Victoria Wharton.
Where did Summer go, I say ‘go’ loosely obviously as I don’t think it ever really came. Let’s not dwell on that though, it’s cold but we’re Brits and we’re used to the cold. So it’s time to get the polo necks out, dust your boots off from under the bed and finally, it’s acceptable to start looking forward to the next best thing – Christmas. It’s clear we need some sort of excitement to get us through the Winter blues (isn’t that why Christmas was invented in the first place?) So what better way to kick that off than look back on some of our favourite Christmas PR stunts and activations.
Let’s start with Westjet’s Christmas Surprise. Their wonderfully created Christmas campaign gave customers the chance to speak to Santa virtually on a TV screen within a giant present. As customers told Santa what they wished for, Westjet employees carefully listened in and took note. They dashed all over town (disappointed there was no sleigh) and grabbed all the gifts – they wrapped them, labelled them and had them ready to be released onto the luggage carousel. What I want to know is what happened to the customers who wished for puppies or a new house because let’s face it, it’s Santa he can perform miracles right?
Sticking with the airline theme this leads us onto KLM and their ‘Bonding Christmas Buffet’. No one should be alone during the Christmas period and KLM made sure to stick to that for passengers flying solo. Stools were strategically placed around what looked to be a KLM tower, as passengers sat on the stools they realised it automatically made the tower lower. Inviting fellow passengers over they soon lowered the tower low enough to reveal a Christmas dinner laid out in front of them. A very big well done to KLM for bringing everyone together at Christmas and a huge well done for the passengers who pretended to enjoy their cold Christmas dinner.
All this food has reminded me of something, and if you haven’t had lunch yet apologies in advance because this one is set to make your taste buds tingle. It’s the return of the Pret Christmas sandwich. Ooo I can imagine the taste of that Pret Christmas lunch right now. To unveil the return of their delicious Christmas menu they wrapped up one of their stores and allowed customers to rip off the wrapping paper to discover their favourite Christmas dishes inside. Yes, they might be horrendously calorific and they have quite literally stuffed every element of a Christmas dinner in-between two slices of bread, but paint me red and call me a cranberry it just ain’t Christmas if you haven’t had a Pret Christmas sandwich – fact.
Lastly let’s not forget the wonderful work we do ourselves. Looking back on our Gifty Grotto we did with Photobox has really got us feeling festive. Refresh your memory here, and don’t forget if you’re thinking of creating something magical this Christmas we are available to lend a helping hand.