2020 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

To remind air travellers of its customer-first positioning, WestJet needed a symbol of the once-typical flight experience. Frequently marked by long lines, flight delays and overbookings (and staff who don’t seem to care about the inconvenience) that experience can leave customers feeling like cattle being shepherded to their destination. In this special effects-laden spot, WestJet, The Vanity and SHED explore this travel metaphor, using anthropomorphic cows that moo their way through customs and check-in to the soundtrack of New Order’s “Blue Monday.” The ad was shot in an abandoned airport in Spain, using a few real cows layered with effects to mimic the bustling airport experience. The spot ends with WestJet claiming to be “Canada’s most on-time airline,” and reminding travellers that “an airline should treat people like people.”

Credits

Chief Commercial Officer: Arved von zur Muehlen
Vice President, Marketing Communications: Richard Bartrem
Director, Marketing Communications: Rob Daintree

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Christina Yu
Creative Directors: Mike Dubrick, Dhaval Bhatt
Art Director: Loretta Lau
Writer: Mike Dubrick, Dhaval Bhatt
Head of Strategy: Sean McDonald
Strategist: Hannah Newport

Head of Broadcast Production, Rethink Toronto: Anna Tricinci
Broadcast Producer: Clair Galea

VFX House: The Vanity
Lead VFX Artist: Sean Cochrane
VFX Artists: Naveen Srivastava, Kaelem Cahill, Michael Medeiros, Andrew Farlow, Noah Matikainen
Set Supervision: Josh Clifton
CG: SHED
Colour: Andrew Exworth
Producer: Kayla Baxter
Executive Producer: Stephanie Pennington

Production Company: Scouts Honour
Director/DOP: Mark Zibert
AD/DOP: Eric Kaskens
EP/Producers: Simon Dragland and Rita Popielak

Service Production Company: Falca
Managing Partner/EP: Jeronimo Pellicer Hummelsheim

Post-Production House: Saints Editorial
Editor: Ross Birchall
Assistant Editor: Paula Hicks, Kerstin Juby
Executive Producers: Michelle Lee

Audio House: Vapor Music
Audio Producers: Lindsey Bates, Ted Rosnick
Engineer: Ryan Chalmers