Travellers who were expecting the usual post-security banality of shopping for duty-free Chanel No. 5 at Toronto’s Pearson Airport over the weekend were instead treated to the smell of popcorn and red carpet movie previews.

LG Canada debuted its new Cinema 3D television set with an entertainment zone at Pearson that launched Friday for a four-day activation scheduled to coincide with March Break.

‘Travel is up about 50% during these first four days of the March break,’ says Steven Lewis, president, XMC Sports and Entertainment, the experiential marketing agency that arranged the partnership for LG with the Greater Toronto Airport Authority. ‘We know that these are four of the busiest travel days of the year,’ he adds.

Children sat cross-legged on a red carpet in the LG zone and watched Coraline while parents examined the new glasses that come with Cinema 3D, which launches in Canada in two weeks. The new set is expected to be more popular with consumers than earlier 3D offerings because it comes with lightweight, less expensive glasses that don’t require batteries the way previous models did, explains Lewis.

The experiential marketing campaign is aiming to reach at least 50,000 consumers, with at least 20,000 people trying on the glasses.

‘This is such a commotion-filled society and city that we live in, that it’s very rare when people have time to appreciate a product and have a conversation,’ says Lewis. ‘What better place to reach families [than] during March Break, past security, when they have that time to sit back and relax, and when they’re receptive to being engaged and experiencing new technology.’

But arranging the zone past airport security did not come without its challenges. Even the attractive LG brand ambassadors have to pass through strict security control when going for breaks or ending their shifts.

‘We have a very close relationship with airport security at this point,’ laughs Lewis.