This one will knock your stockings off: An epic promo from Canadian airline WestJet, which asked passengers about their holiday wishlists as they boarded a plane - and then had those gifts delivered to the baggage carousel at the passengers' destination.
When was the last time you wanted to take to social media to report something so good for an airline?
New research shows that Americans may be tiring of sappy holiday TV commercials - and want something a little more Grinch-like in their fare.
In fact, according to a new survey from cable TV advertising sales company Viamedia, 59% of Americans admit they want to see more Scrooge-like themes in holiday advertising.
In terms of ranking, the scenarios Americans would most like to see in TV spots include:
#1: How do you react to a present you don't like
#2: The best way to return a bad gift
#3: The right way to re-gift
#4: Naughty kids getting coal for Christmas
#5: How to shop for people you don't like
An honorable mention: What to do with carolers who can't sing
What to make of these results? I went to Becky Jones, vice president and research at Viamedia to find out more - and get some hilarious data points from this research.
Of course, these kinds of survey results are not always quite as they seem. And as you'll discover here, the actionable insights here may point in divergent directions.
Indeed, as we'll discuss, Kmart's provocative TV spot, shown in the YouTube video above, may be more in keeping with the zeitgeist this holiday. Or, at the very least, continues a year-long campaign from the brand to achieve new relevance.
But what's your view? Time for coal in everyone's stocking? Or does holiday cheer always win in the end?
In my book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND I contend that for certain brands in certain categories, bragging rights may soon come to those who claim the fewest social media followers instead of the most.
I just wasn't thinking about this brand, in this category - though perhaps I should have.
In my book, I talk about the growing trend of social media users starting to prune their "air-quote" soc-net friends to become as authentic in online connections as they are in the real world - and that brands will start to follow suit, striving instead to build real communities of interest instead of dubious likes.
Indeed, as I discuss in the book, BK here in the US did, after all, launch the Whopper Sacrifice app, which offered you a free Whopper for every Facebook friend that you dumped. It was wildly successful - to the point that Facebook yanked the apps after it received a mountain of complaints from dumpees.
Now, in a far more daring stunt, Burger King Norway offered McDonald's Big Macs to go away and not be friends anymore. In fact, takers would be banned from the BK Facebook page henceforth.
According to this case study video from DIST Creative (by way of AdAge), out of 38,000 total Facebook fans, a full 30,000 of them took the offer - leaving just 8,000 true, loyal fans (...or else very infrequent Facebook users...). And BK says it couldn't be happier, saying these fans are much more engaged and interact with the brand in a more positive manner.
What's your view? Burger Blunder? Or Brilliance? Offering your rivals products and then seeing such a huge response doesn't necessarily reflect well - and hands said rival a huge amount of PR ammo. Plus, "superfans" - mostly young, mostly male, frequent fast food over 20 times per week - aren't so brand specific. They love it all.
But BK is banking on a more fruitful relationship with true, loyal followers.
Those are some seriously courageous bragging rights.
So what do you say: Hat's off to the King? Or Royal Screw-up?