CALGARY – Leave it to WestJet to either pull at the heartstrings or elicit a few chuckles with their promotional videos. Its latest one – ‘Owners Care – Virtual Baggage’ – is definitely on the funnier side, starring a Hawaii-bound family and their ‘talking’ luggage.

Part of its new ‘Owners Care’ campaign, the newly released video features the Brittlestar family on a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. Prior to departure, they are greeted at the airport by WestJet crew members who surprise them with luggage adorned with the faces of “virtual WestJetters”. Through the magic of technology, WestJetters Chris, Safana and Dave talk to the family and provide travel tips in real time.

The baggage, created by Toronto-based wonderMakr, accompanies the family throughout their trip. Virtual WestJetters are seen providing help and guidance at every opportunity, including at the front desk and on the green.

“With the recent launch of our ‘Owners Care’ campaign, we wanted to make an accompanying video that takes the Owners Care theme to the extreme,” said Richard Bartrem, WestJet Vice-President Marketing Communications. “We created three pieces of baggage housing embedded computer screens that allowed WestJetters behind the scenes to see, hear, talk and interact with our family and their surroundings. The virtual WestJetters ensured that every step of the family’s vacation was taken care of down to the smallest detail.”

WestJet’s new marketing campaign, ‘Who does That? Owners Do’, was launched on Oct. 4 with a series of television spots during October’s baseball games and on WestJet’s social media channels.