Honda Uses Virtual Reality to Bring Holiday Cheer to Pediatric Patients

TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- This year Honda has expanded upon its annual Happy Honda Days campaign to bring the magic of the holidays to patients at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC Children's) through an immersive journey down a virtual Candy Cane Lane shared via Oculus headsets.

Honda is generating awareness for the company's holiday Candy Cane Lane giving program through work on Facebook. A short, documentary-style video of the children's reactions to their Candy Cane Lane VR experience will be posted on Facebook: http://honda.us/HolidayMagic. For every "like" or "love" the video receives, Honda will donate $1 to CHOC Children's and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, up to a total of $100,000. The video also will be shared on Honda's YouTube and Twitter channels.

"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. "Seeing the kids' heartfelt reactions to the experience and being able to bring magic to their hospital stay is especially meaningful during the holidays."

In the Candy Cane Lane virtual-reality experience, a Honda sleigh pulls the viewer along a beautiful snow-covered neighborhood filled with spectacular holiday light displays. As the viewer travels down the street, the lights and decorations on the houses become more and more extravagant. Bells and harps play throughout the journey as illuminated snowmen and toy soldiers animate to life. After a fireworks finale, the children see reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. Finally, just as Santa drops a beautifully wrapped gift into their lap in the video, a real gift was being placed in their lap in the hospital.

Additionally, Honda created a 360-degree version (http://honda.us/CandyCaneLane) 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 (http://honda.us/HHD) three Snapchat filters available at dealerships across the country, print, POP, out-of-home, digital, social and radio.

About Honda

Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through approximately 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic and Accord passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport/utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for 33 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2016, more than 95 percent of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. have been made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

SOURCE Honda