WestJet brings together families who are spending the holidays apart in heartwarming film
Those in the travel industry often don’t see their loved ones at Christmas, so the airline brought the loved ones to them

Editor's Pick
Thousands of travel and hospitality industry employees spend the Christmas season ensuring that the rest of us get to where we’re going. But to brighten up the season for three such workers who couldn’t go be with their families this winter, WestJet decided to bring their families to them.
In a new ad titled “Holiday Heroes,” the Canadian airline is highlighting the stories of a trio of Vancouver-based essential travel workers; not WestJet employees—who are recognized separately in the opening of both the campaign’s marquee three-minute film and its shorter cuts—but rather those whose roles are often overlooked, but are no less important.
Showcased in the campaign are Ashley Springer, a bus driver with Vancouver’s TransLink public transit system; Killian Kampes, an Irish-born valet attendant at the city’s storied Fairmont Hotel; and Husan Gill, a ramp agent at Vancouver International Airport, each of whom shares why their careers matter to them.
But after revealing the emotional impact of not spending Christmas with their friends and relatives, a narrator chimes in: “Since they couldn’t be with their loved ones, we brought their loved ones to them.”
The spot was handled by independent Canadian shop Rethink, which was named Creative Agency of the Year on Ad Age’s 2023 A-List.
“While airlines, like WestJet, play a huge role [in holiday travel], there’s an entire community of people that also make it happen that we wanted to shine a light on,” said Leia Rogers, executive creative director at Rethink, who emphasized the ad’s focus on real peoples’ stories—and the meticulous planning needed to pull off all three surprise reunions.
To keep the campaign’s intentions secret, the agency initially told Springer, Kampes and Gill that they were participating in a documentary about travel industry employees who work over the holidays.
“For more than a decade, we have created meaningful holiday campaigns that give back to the people and communities we serve,” said Jennifer Callegaro, WestJet’s director of marketing, referring to the company’s annual “Christmas Miracle” efforts.
“We surveyed Canadians and 75% noted spending time together with loved ones is most important over the holidays. Knowing this, we were so excited to surprise just a few deserving heroes in this year’s campaign,” she said.
The campaign will air across broadcast TV, online video, movie theater screens and social media, including on WestJet’s own channels, beginning Dec. 1.
In addition, the campaign will have a 10-second video tied to an extension of its Holiday Hero program, in which any Canadian—travel industry worker or not—can nominate someone they believe deserves a Christmas family reunion, facilitated by WestJet.
Nominations are currently open on the airline’s website, where details of WestJet’s other holiday promotions, such as its Miracle Miles charitable donation scheme and its printable holiday e-card, can also be found.
Credits
- Date
- Dec 01, 2023
- Client :
- WestJet
- Agency :
- Rethink
- Global CCO :
- Aaron Starkman
- Global CSO :
- Sean McDonald
- CCO :
- Mike Dubrick
- Executive Creative Director :
- Leia Rogers
- Group Creative Director :
- Sean O'Connor
- Associate Creative Director / Art Director :
- Eric Seymour
- Associate Creative Director / Copywriter :
- Jordan Lawson
- Head of Strategy :
- Elyse Sanders
- Senior Strategist :
- Brian Tang
- Senior Producer :
- Emma Ruthnum
- Partner & Client Services Director :
- Chelsea Stoelting
- Group Account Director :
- Kennedy Crawford
- Account Director :
- Kara Schulz
- Account Manager :
- Jong Lee
- Head of Broadcast Production :
- Laura Rioux
- Director of Broadcast Production :
- Shelby Spigelman
- Production Company :
- Boldly
- Executive Producer :
- Sébastien Galina
- Executive Producer :
- Shelby Manton
- Executive Producer :
- Geoff Manton
- Executive Producer :
- Kristoff Duxbury
- Line Producer :
- Sébastien Galina
- Director :
- Sean Horlor
- Director :
- Steve Adams
- DOP :
- Farhad Ghaderi
- Editing Facility :
- R&D Post
- Editor :
- Austin Blackmore
- Executive Producer :
- Megan O'Connor
- Senior Producer Post :
- Laurie Filgiano
- Junior Producer :
- Natalia Urquiza
- Color Facility :
- Alter Ego
- Finishing Facility :
- Alter Ego
- Colorist :
- Andrew Ross
- Color Assistant :
- Malini Khotsiphom
- Flame Artist :
- Sebastian Boros
- Flame Assistant :
- Veridianna Whitaker
- Producer :
- Andrew Tavares
- Executive Producer :
- Hilda Pereira
- Audio House :
- Wave Productions
- Original Composition :
- Wave Productions
- Music Director :
- David Gaudet
- Audio Producer/Mixer :
- Craig Zarazun
- Executive Producer :
- Megan Hughes
- PR Lead :
- Meredith Montgomery
- PR Group Account Director :
- Matt Milne
- PR Coordinator :
- Marta Miklas
- Director Marketing :
- Jennifer Callegaro
- Senior Manager Brand Strategy & Activation :
- Mariam Wilton
- Advisor Marketing :
- Kim Cormack
- Advisor Marketing :
- Erin McGregor
- Advisor Marketing :
- Huda Coutney
- Content Strategist :
- Andrea Boland
- Senior Manager Media Strategy :
- Seema Bissa
- Channel Strategist :
- Dariejane Bongato
- Senior Channel Strategist :
- Chelsea Owen-Turner
- Associate General Counsel :
- Andrew Kay
- Director Internal & External Communications :
- April Crane
- Manager Social Media :
- Serene Thio
- Coordinator Social Media :
- Dawn Park
- Lead Channel Strategist :
- Olga Brilant
- Immediate Product Owner :
- Melodie Lapina
- Developer :
- Rohan Somers
- Senior Designer :
- Kelsey Kimura
- Senior Manager Digital Design :
- David McArthur
- Channel Strategist :
- Sarah M Taylor
- Channel Strategist :
- Anna Kennedy
- Senior Advisor Insights :
- Alyssa Redfern
- Senior Content Strategist :
- Patrick Lachance
- Content Strategist :
- Marie-Eve Bilodeau
- Senior Manager Operations :
- Dano Nguyen
- Senior Manager Guest Experience :
- Janna Block
- Senior Manager Ground Operations :
- Steven Patch
- Airport Affairs Manager :
- Chris White-DeVries
- Portfolio Manager :
- Madeleine Brydon
- Manager PR & Content Strategy :
- Denise Kenny
- Advisor Media Relations :
- Julia Brunet
- Communications Strategist :
- Serena Davis
- Manager Enterprise FP&A :
- Alisha Visanji
- Advisor Marketing :
- Carolyn Watson
- Advisor Marketing :
- Caitlan Auramenko
- Advisor Marketing :
- Donivan Ryan
- Media :
- Touche
- AVP Strategy :
- Sara Daher
- Strategist :
- Avneet Sahota
- Associate Director Digital :
- Ricky Gupta
- Supervisor Strategy :
- Frances Fan
- Social Manager :
- Taras Kuzmyk
- Associate Director Social :
- Audrey Ansah
- Associate Director Programmatic :
- Gaurav Dayalani
- Programmatic Manager :
- Akrish Sripada
- Senior Programmatic Analyst :
- Adarsh Sivakumar
- Senior Digital Analyst :
- Aman Mendonca
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