In this short film, we tell the story of the constant tug parents feel between work and their kids. ‘A Balloon for Ben’ is set in a fantastical world where balloons are filled with the light of film. To release the film the balloon must be popped, allowing the light to magically disperse as a projection in the air.

In the story Ben and his father purchase a balloon with the intention of watching it together that night. Things don’t go as planned as Ben’s father is called in to work. Ben waits to pop the balloon, but the demands of his father’s job continue to get in the way of their time together. So the balloon deflates and their chance to watch the film fades. One night, Ben’s dad makes a discovery that helps him realize he needs to make time for his son—no matter how busy he gets.

To maximize views with the wave of holiday-season moviegoers, the film premiered Dec. 8 on social media and in theatre. To pull audiences deeper into the story, a social campaign featured behind-the-scenes and making-of videos on all of Cineplex’s social channels. It was also supported with an integrated effort that included lobby movie posters, interactive screens and gift cards that gave people an opportunity to gift entertainment. To drive further engagement, the film’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” was shared with local radio stations and was available for download across every major music streaming service.

The film ballooned to 1 million views in less than 24 hours, reaching this milestone faster than ‘Lily and the Snowman’. To date, it has been viewed over 13 million times, shared over 35,000 times and generated thousands of heartfelt comments and stories. People have also fallen in love with the song – listening to it over 50,000 times. Once again we have struck a chord with Canadians and built deeper brand affinity for Cineplex, as demonstrated through a 9% increase in positive impressions of the brand and a remarkable 77% increase in brand favourability.