Iberia Airlines Puts Holiday Travellers to the Test with a Nail-Biting ‘Christmas Dilemma'

We all have someone waiting for us at Christmas; but what if, on your way back home, you were surprised at the airport with an offer to fly to the destination of your dreams? The catch? You wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with your loved ones.

This is how Iberia’s new campaign, "The Christmas Dilemma," begins. Developed by McCann, the campaign features a real-life experiment where several travellers from Madrid and Lima (Peru), who had already planned their trips home for Christmas, were offered the chance to change their flight to their dream destination, with everything included and at no additional cost. This proposal would replace spending Christmas with their family and friends with a trip to the places they had always dreamed of visiting. The participants were told they were part of an Iberia documentary, and were surprised with this offer right before boarding their flights. Meanwhile, the decision-making process was streamed live, capturing how their families were experiencing the real moment of the decision.

Produced under the direction of filmmaker Santiago Zannou with the Júpiter production company, the campaign was filmed in Madrid and Peru. It launched today, December 16, in Spain across TV, social media, and cinemas, as well as in Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina on social media, with versions of three minutes, 90”, 60”, and 20”.

The campaign began the week of December 9 with a teaser action in outdoor spaces, where several building facades in Spain were transformed into personalized Iberia boarding passes. These boarding passes featured the names of the homeowners or their family members, and the activation was amplified on social media by various influencers.

At this time of year, neither New York, Los Angeles, nor Tokyo can compete with that other destination that is in all of our minds and hearts during the holiday season: home.

This campaign highlights, especially at Christmas, the brand’s purpose: “Connecting people, we create the future.”