Air Canada's 'Gift of Home' video the latest to capitalize on the emotional holiday ad trend

Every December, it seems like more and more companies are fighting to look the most charitable in their holiday PR pushes.

But if people really are benefiting from that charity, it's hard to really complain.

Air Canada has just shared its heartwarming charitable act for this holiday season, in the form of its new video "Gift of Home for the Holidays."

Air Canada representatives visited a Canadian ex-pat bar in London, England, and surprised all the Canadians there with round-trip flights back home for the holiday season.

The video clearly struck a chord with some ex-pats living overseas, who wished they could have been the lucky ones heading back to Canada:

And some Twitter users who were personally touched by the gesture even shared their thanks:

The video comes on the heels of WestJet's own generous holiday gesture, the video of which has generated 1.5 million views in just three days. The company's Christmas Miracle video brings a little bit of the holidays to the Dominican Republic (a popular vacation destination that WestJet flies to, as it happens):

Sure, they're marketing campaigns, designed to hook you emotionally and think more favourably of a company. We can all see that. Nonetheless, it's nice to see those advertising dollars doing some good in the world, too.

What do you think of these emotional-hook holiday ads? Share your thoughts in the comments below.