Hasta La Creative!

As another holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, there’s no shortage of tech, toys, and treats being touted as the latest and greatest ‘must-have’ gift. And one of the most popular ways new products are being showcased to consumers is through unboxing videos, where people film themselves opening, inspecting, and reviewing an item for their audience. This trend has exploded over the past few years, and has made its way into the children’s toy category, where content creators young and old unbox and discuss the latest toy.

But while most of us know the thrill of opening a gift and exploring what’s inside, others aren’t so lucky. Thousands of Canadian kids don’t receive gifts during the holiday season as their families don’t have the means to buy them one. In an effort to raise awareness for this harsh reality, Toys For Tots Canada created an unboxing video of their own – an #UnboxingWorthWatching. The video starts with all the common tropes you’d expect in an unboxing video: jump cuts, a homemade title card introducing their host Joey, even a callout to subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Everything is happy and upbeat until, it isn’t. When Joey opens the box, he finds there’s nothing inside, and the campaign message is revealed: Some kids have nothing to unbox.