Virgin America - Operation Chihuahua

Virgin America - Operation Chihuahua

Although Paris Hilton and the thenubiquitous Taco Bell chihuahua ads may have launched the tiny dog trend in Los Angeles in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the sad reality for many pampered micropooches these days is that way too many of the Chihuahuas that are adopted in California end up abandoned by their owners in shelters.

That’s why Virgin America stepped in seven years ago to unleash their very cool “Operation Chihuahua” initiative. Launched in partnership with the San Francisco Animal Care and Control society, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Animal Haven, the program flies shelter Chihuahuas and other small dogs on special Virgin American flights from San Francisco to New York where the demand for tiny dogs well exceeds the supply.

Kicking off this year’s event in typically cheeky, Virgin America style, the carrier offered passengers who booked flights on Cyber Monday this past November not only a “tiny fare” discount of 30%, but also promised to donate $10 from every booking that day to future Operation Chihuahua airlifts in an effort to give tiny dogs “wings” for months and years to come.

Timed to coincide with one of the busiest travel periods of the year, the campaign also offered passengers the chance to “gift” their savings to family and friends and even the opportunity to donate directly to the cause at a dedicated Tiny Dogs, Tiny Fares website . Marking the occasion with a splashy, red-carpet send-off for a dozen or so tiny dog VIPs at San Francisco International Airport, Virgin America flight crews also shared pics and video of the Chihuahua’s flight on Instagram and Twitter using the carrier’s inflight WiFi.

Already something of a cult sensation online, the promo’s adorable 60 second spot has been viewed upwards of 2,300 times on YouTube with a longer, even more adorable, two-minute clip having been viewed 2.5K times since going live on November 29th. Written up on such popular travel industry sites at BoardingArea.com and eTurboNews.com , this year alone the campaign raised a far from tiny $75,000 in cash and in-kind donations for Virgin’s animal shelter partners. And though there was no mention of what the lucky pooches involved watched inflight, Virgin America’s lovely holiday campaign definitely gives new meaning to the expression: “Every dog has his day!”