My Z News

Grandparents are awesome; that’s just a fact of life. Every little kid knows that Grandma’s house is full of yummy snacks not found at home and Grandpa’s always good for a trip to the park or somewhere equally fun. While parents often have overflowing to-do lists and responsibilities, grandparents have the luxury of being a little more relaxed and having the time to just play and spoil their grandkids. 

Unfortunately, long gone are the days when many generations lived in the same town or at least close enough for frequent visits. Our increasingly global world means people take jobs across the state, country or even world. Eight-year-old Esme Rowling and her grandparents Alec and Catherine Beattie know about this kind of separation all too well. While Alec and Catherine still live in the London area of the United Kingdom, Esme’s parents moved all the way to Bondi in Australia. Nowadays, cheap and reliable phone networks and communication apps like Skype make it easy to stay in touch, but they can never replace actually being in the presence of your loved ones.

And that’s the inspiration behind British Airway’s “Visit Soon” campaign, of which this surprise was a part. This marketing plan is specifically aimed at the approximately one million British expats living in Australia and their loved ones. While the long flight times (averaging about 22 hours) and high costs (upwards of $800 per ticket) means that many still won’t make the journey, Alec Beattie is certainly jumping at the chance. “I had absolutely no idea that my family in Sydney had been working with British Airways on this special event. We are overwhelmed and excited at the prospect of visiting Australia to spend time with them.”

Read more: http://www.wimp.com/grandparents-unexpected-movie-surprise-grandchildren/