• by Tanya Gazdik , December 18, 2016

Honda surprised some sick children unable to leave the hospital as part of its Happy Honda Days campaign.

The automaker provided pediatric patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County with Oculus headsets which took them on a virtual reality experience of Candy Cane Lane. 

Their emotional reactions to the whimsical journey down a street filled with festive lights, and Santa and his reindeer were recorded in a documentary-style video which lives on Honda’s Facebook page. The video was also shared on Honda’s YouTube and Twitter channels.

For every “Like” of the Facebook post, Honda said it would donate $1 to CHOC Children's and Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (up to $100,000 through Jan 2). As of Dec. 18, the video had already exceeded 393,000 views. Honda is using #HondaCandyCaneLane to promote the video.

“This year Honda has the unique privilege of transporting children at CHOC Children’s to a virtual winter wonderland that brings the festive spirit of the holidays to the kids directly,” said Susie Rossick, assistant vice president, Honda Auto marketing, in a release. “Seeing the kids’ heartfelt reactions to the experience and being able to bring magic to their hospital stay is especially meaningful during the holidays.”

Honda also created a 360-degree version of the Candy Cane Lane virtual-reality experience for Facebook, which launched in early December, to invite people to enjoy and share the festive lights of Candy Cane Lane. 

This 360-video is part of Honda’s annual Happy Honda Days campaign, which speaks to the nostalgia of the holidays and consists of four TV spots three Snapchat filters available at dealerships across the country, print, POP, out-of-home, digital, social and radio.