Air Canada had their name on the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Raptors home stadium, for over 19 years, making themselves synonymous with basketball for almost two decades. But when they no longer had arena naming rights, the connection between Canada’s national airline and Canada’s national team was lost. So when the Raptors were retiring their first jersey ever—for the one and only Vince “Air Canada” Carter—we knew we had an opportunity to get basketball fans talking about Air Canada again, and a chance to honour his legacy and embolden ours. While most retired players have their numbers raised to the rafters, we took Carter’s even higher, creating the world’s highest retirement ceremony for the league’s highest flyer. We made a custom aircraft styled after the banner that would be raised in the Raptor’s arena, complete with Carter’s number, signature, and iconic dunking silhouette. Then, we put the plane into regular rotation in the Air Canada fleet, allowing number 15 to take off in Toronto again and ensuring his number would be raised to the skies, across the country, with every flight. And when it came time to reveal the plane, guess who showed up? The man himself. Carter joined fans, influencers, and media members who came to see the plane unveiled and witness the inaugural flight. Our unofficial retirement ceremony took over the city with OOH covering Yonge & Dundas Square, one of Toronto’s most iconic, high-traffic public spaces, as well as a stadium takeover at the retirement game to further honour Vince’s legacy along with Air Canada’s. Air Canada became the talk of his retirement, reclaiming their connection to the Raptors. With over 1000 cross-country flights for the VinceCarter plane to date and thousands more to come, Born to Fly successfully made Air Canada synonymous with the Raptors again: Reigniting Air Canada’s association with the Raptors: More hashtag mentions of #aircanada than #vincecarter $55.8M in earned media with $0 in celebrity endorsements including stories on TSN, Sportsnet, Boardroom, the Globe & Mail, TrendHunter, and NBA.com, among others Driving engagement: Social had an engagement rate 2x Air Canada’s average performance Creating a positive brand halo for Air Canada 334% increase in positive mentions And, we made one NBA Hall of Famer cry. Proving that while some numbers belong in the rafters, others deserve to fly.