Super Bowl ads are the miniature version of the film industry. There is huge money involved and brands are torn between creating something new and noteworthy or falling back on established formulas.
So for its 2014 Super Bowl Commercial, Bud Light threw in a ton of actors including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Don Cheadle, Minka Kelly and one unsuspecting normal guy called Ian Rappaport. The ad went on to become something truly to remember. đ
Coca-Cola is at it again, this time unleashing happiness in Sweden. A special Coke machine sits at a bus stop to spread some summer happiness in the middle of the cold and dark Nordic winter. The resultsâŚ
A bus stop is pure waiting time. That makes it a natural canvas for surprise, generosity, and shared reactions. When the environment is grey and cold, the contrast of âsummer happinessâ lands even harder, because it flips the mood of the moment instantly.
You do not need a complex mechanic to create a strong brand experience. Put the idea in the right place, at the right time, and make the reward feel unmistakably human. When people are surprised together, the story spreads on its own.
Click here to see other Coca-Cola Happiness campaigns from around the world.
It is a series of experiential campaigns where a Coca-Cola machine behaves unexpectedly, giving people a surprise that feels generous and shareable in public.
Because waiting amplifies attention. People are already paused, watching, and open to distraction. The setting turns a small surprise into a social moment.
The reward has to be simple, immediate, and emotionally clear. If the moment reads as kindness or delight first, the branding can stay light and still win.
Engineer contrast. Put warmth where people expect cold. Put play where people expect routine. That is how a short interaction becomes a memorable story.
Airports during the holiday season are generally filled with tired, disgruntled people facing delays, lost luggage, and a long list of small mishaps. WestJet uses that exact setting to deliver a Christmas miracle at the point where people least expect anything good to happen. The baggage belt.
With the help of a virtual Santa Claus, the airline asks unsuspecting passengers waiting to board flights to Calgary from Toronto and Hamilton International Airports what is on their Christmas wishlists.
Then more than 150 WestJet employees play Santaâs elves, gathering personalized presents and delivering them to the Calgary airport before the passengers land. At baggage claim, the carousel brings the surprise to life and the travelers receive their holiday miracle.
The work is not the Santa screen. The work is the fulfillment race. Capture wishes at the departure gate, buy the gifts immediately, clear logistics fast enough to beat a flight, and make the reveal happen at a single shared moment where everyone is already looking in the same direction.
That last detail matters. Baggage claim is a forced wait with a fixed focal point. When the surprise arrives there, the reaction is collective, contagious, and easy to film without feeling staged.
In service brands, the fastest way to earn trust is to transform a routine pain point into a visibly human act of care.
It respects the viewerâs skepticism. People are used to holiday messages. They are not used to holiday logistics that actually deliver. The story also stays legible even if you miss the setup. You see gifts on a baggage belt, you see genuine reactions, and you instantly understand the promise being made about the brand.
Extractable takeaway: If you want surprise-and-delight to travel, design the reveal around a shared focal point, then make the fulfillment real enough that people would talk about it even without a camera.
This is not WestJetâs first attempt at spreading airport Christmas cheer. The year before, the airline created a Christmas-themed flash mob, complete with dancing elves, right in the middle of an airport.
And with that, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here is a lovely remake of âLittle Drummer Boyâ by Pentatonix to bring this last Ramble of the year to a close.
Passengers share their Christmas wishlists with a virtual Santa at the departure airport, then those gifts appear for them at baggage claim after landing, turning a routine airport wait into a shared surprise moment.
It is a forced wait with a single focal point. Everyone is already watching the same place, so the surprise becomes collective and instantly memorable.
Real-time fulfillment. Capturing wishes is easy. Buying, wrapping, transporting, and staging gifts before the flight lands is the proof that makes the story credible.
The reactions read as unmistakably real, and the narrative is simple enough to retell in one sentence without explanation.
Transform a predictable pain point into a visible act of care, then design the reveal so it happens in a shared moment people naturally witness together.
