When Chris Forward, General Manager of Harvey’s Home Heating, reached out to discuss bringing an amazing idea to life, the team at Dc were pretty excited. We’ve been lucky to have gotten to know some of the people behind the A. Harvey Group over the last little while and together we’ve watched some pretty amazing things happen at the hands of people who are not in it for the spotlight.
A big idea
We wanted to bring a family together. There was no time to waste. The Harvey’s team were determined to make something magical happen for this family and we were lucky enough to be the ones who got to capture it all.
The plan was to surprise the Doucettes – by bringing their Son and his family home for a long overdue visit.
But first we had to connect with their son. You figure, “I’ll simply look him up on Facebook and send a message – or ten.” Seems people tend to think you might be out to scam them if you are getting in touch about a “unique opportunity.” Looks like we need our senior copywriter to step in sooner next time. 🙂
Finally a break!
As in typical Newfoundland style, Jackie from Harvey’s son plays hockey with the Doucette’s daughter’s husband’s cousin – or something. (I love where we live.)
Once she stepped in, we were off! Many phone calls and details later Steve and Kelly Doucette and their two beautiful girls were home in Newfoundland. Harvey’s even sprung for a hotel room to keep them hidden until the big reveal.
The best part
The real fun happened when we set up hidden cameras and were able to capture the genuine reactions of the Doucettes as they were greeting by their own son and his family when the arrive for a meeting at Harvey’s.
What a moment; there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. The joy. I will never forget that moment. I will treasure it forever. And I was only on the sidelines!
We plotted a strategy to get the video viewed as many times as possible; Harvey’s promised if the video was viewed 25,000 times in the month of October they would sign over a cheque for $2,500 – above and beyond their annual donations – to the St. John’s Boys & Girls Club. We beat that in only a week and the charity got a little warmth too!
Thanks to Harvey’s awesome team, all our team, who pitched in and of course, our friend Roger Maunder at Up Sky Down Films. This project brought a little warmth to my heart. I hope it did the same for you.
