Aeromexico not only solved a business problem by reaching a historic 33.7% increase in ticket sales from the US to Mexico, it also reinforced its brand positioning "There are no borders within us"; during the longest government shutdown in the US, when the conversation on building a wall that would divide the two countries was at its most critical stage. The brand proved its bravery making a statement against the President of the world´s most powerful nation, and also its courage considering that precisely with that nation is that the company manages businesses for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Aeromexico, the largest airline in Mexico, obtains a considerable amount of its revenues from Mexico-US flights (58%); but not so much the other way around (flights from the US to Mexico: 28%). For an airline business, this fact implied a long-term unsustainable situation in terms of people, time and budget.

On the other hand, historically there have been xenophobic conversations in the United States, that were proven to raise since the arrival of President Trump. Hatred was at its highest level, and the intention of building a wall was more radical on the southern border.

The challenge for the brand was to increase penetration Americans flying to Mexico, in a context where the political situation was becoming more aggressive; and at the same time reinforcing and reaffirming the statement and position that Aeromexico had been building for the past 3 years, according to which "There are no borders within us".

The brand developed an action that integrated what Americans are proven to love: discounts, with what those southern Americans claimed they hated: Mexico. Aeroméxico created DNA Discounts, a promotion that gave discounts to Americans based on the results of their DNA tests. The more Mexicans they were, the more discount they got.

People could get free DNA tested by 23 and ME. On these tests, there's is a category called "Native American-Mexico" which shows the percentage of Mexican DNA; once people received the results they were able to exchange their percentage of Mexican DNA, for a corresponding discount on any Aeromexico ticket to any destination in Mexico.

According to the Department of Homeland Security of the US, Mexican immigration goes as far as the 1800s with settling of communities on the south, meaning that the percentage of Mexican ascendance in the US is considerably high.

The findings also allowed to establish that a large part of Americans, especially those from the south who are more reluctant towards Mexico, have Mexican DNA in them; which would be the argument to perfectly prove the brand statement "There are no borders within us".

Keeping that in mind, Aeroméxico decided to put the brand in the middle of those southern American ideals and beliefs, and strategically targeted the people who were more resistant to fly to Mexico, to convince them otherwise. After all, how can you reject something you got inside?

The brand developed an online movie that was launched in April 2018, and was on air for several months, being promoted on the brand's channels and on YouTube.

However, in January 2019, and during the longest Government Shutdown in the United States (December 2018 / January 2019); it was strategically stated along with the Public Relations Company, that it was time to refuel the video on social networks while people needed to raise their voices with an argument against the policies of President Trump.

The action demonstrated its relevance choosing the right channel at the right time, by establishing a statement that initiated a social debate in the US, Mexico and more than 164 other countries around the world.

-Sales on Aeromexico's tickets from the US to Mexico had a historical increase of 33.7%.

-The top of mind of the brand and spontaneous recall reached 91% historical peaks.

-The video went viral with more than 25M views the first week, on different social media platforms.

-166 countries worldwide spoke and debated the campaign.

-More than 1.6 billion impressions.

-More than 1 billion reached.

-More than 140 media around the world gave Aeromexico coverage such as: The NYT, Time, Newsweek, Daily Mail, CBS, ABC, CNN, among many others.

-Increase in US search "Tickets to Mexico": 214%.

-Increase in US search "Vacations to Mexico": 321%

-Increase in US search "Aeromexico": 177%

-The campaign was commented and shared by millions of people including political analysts, journalists, activists, celebrities, marketing influencers, and even former Mexican President Felipe Calderón.

-Only 4% negative feeling which is totally unusual, especially for an airline on social networks.