Who: Air Transat, Sid Lee and North Strategic PR.
What: A new “hidden camera” video called “Lost Vacation Days.” The spot is online only, posted to YouTube and being pushed through Facebook.
How: The video has employees being told by an HR consultant that their unused vacation days are being given to a coworker who always uses his or her vacation time. When the employees balk at the idea, the HR consultant reveals he’s from Air Transat and that rather than take away their vacation, Air Transat is giving them an all-inclusive vacation. “You need to take your vacation days,” he says.
That’s rude: A couple of co-workers seem a little too willing to accept the extra time off at the expense of their colleagues, no?
The message: “It’s the New Year, a time when we make resolutions and think about what matters most to us. So we wanted to help a group of employees realize what vacations really mean to them,” Air Transat’s VP of marketing Geneviève LeBrun, told us. “We understand the transformative power a holiday can have, and that’s the message we’re conveying in this video.”
Hidden camera version 1: Just before the holidays Air Transat posted a similar hidden-camera video in which British expats were informed they are taking part in a scientific study to cure homesickness. The cure ended up being a flight home with Air Transat.