4 Christmas campaigns that hit us with those holiday feels

Social media is a great place for brands to get in on the holiday fun with consumers. Sometimes holiday campaigns can be something more than just a bit of fun; brands will occasionally create some truly special content that gets right to the core of what the holidays are all about.

We’re not crying, you’re crying!

Here’s four past campaigns that are bound to fill you with the spirit of Christmas.

UPS: Your Wishes Delivered

The holiday season is one of the busiest for deliveries, and UPS in the States is just one of many companies that bears the brunt of the holiday rush.

So in 2014, they decided to encourage their customers to share their dream gifts with the #wishesdelivered hashtag. Every time the tag was used, UPS gave $1 to a selected charity, up to the first 100,000 tags. But what made the campaign all the more magical was that they also decided to make a few of the entrant’s dream gift’s come true.

One winner stood out among the rest – 4-year-old Carson always wanted to be UPS driver, and for a very special day, he got his wish. UPS gave him his own mini-truck, his own customers and his own presents to deliver.

This heart-warming video was the result. Almost four million views later, there still isn’t a dry eye in the house.

John Lewis: Man on the Moon

A sad reality of the holiday season is that it can often be a time when some of us feel more alone than ever. But every year without fail, those stories can have a happy ending, with kind strangers or volunteers working to make sure everyone can feel warm and loved during the holidays.

Nothing reflects this like John Lewis’s Man on the Moon campaign from 2015, where a little girl spots a lonely man living on the moon. She tries and tries to reach him, and finally manages it do it on Christmas Day, sending him a special present to let her know she’s there for him.

I’m honestly not too sure what any of it has to do with the UK Department Store, but maybe that’s part of why this is such a special story. With almost 30 million views on YouTube and a companion app to download, the video clearly resonated with audiences.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to call all of my distant relatives. None of us should feel like we’re stranded on the moon for the holidays.

Air Canada: Gift of Home

I’ll be home for Christmas.

Those words bring joy to the hearts of families everywhere, title cheesy 90’s movies and inspire this marvellous piece of content by Air Canada.

The video captures the moment when Canadian expats stranded at a pub in London are told that Air Canada will be offering them free round trip flights home for Christmas. The looks of pure shock and joy at the announcement on the faces of the surprised recipients are enough to warm the heart of even the coldest Grinch.

TGI Fridays UK’s Virtual Reality Dog Sled Ride

We can’t quite yet take a VR sleigh ride with Santa as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve, but this comes pretty close.

After the restaurant chain found that 43% of Britons saw Lapland, Finland as their perfect Christmas destination, they commissioned a virtual reality video of a dog sled dashing through the snow in a full 360-degree video that you can enjoy on even the most basic of VR devices.

Try not to get whiplash!

Money or circumstances can mean we don’t get to spend time with those we care about the most for the holidays, so to see such a powerful act of kindness bringing families together is what’s so heart-warming about the video.

It perfectly captures what this time of year is all about: good times with the people you love the most.