ABC's 'PAN AM' Promotion Sends Lookalike Stewardesses Into Canadian Streets

TORONTO – ABC’s sky-high PAN AM drama came down to earth Friday as actresses dressed as PAN AM stewardesses circa 1960 flooded streets and airports nationwide two days before the U.S. series bows here on CTV.

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The latest eleventh hour experiential-marketing stunt by a Canadian network had CTV sending teams of eight to 16 lookalike PAN AM stewardesses, outfitted head-to-toe in the former alirline's iiconic uniform, out on location in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

As the PAN AM stewardess-dressed actresses handed out pretzels and posed with passerby for photos, the aim was to build audience runway for the ABC drama, which stars Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robbie and Montreal-native Karine Vanasse, before it debuts on Sunday night at 10 p.m.

“It’s a natural setting, and a little bit of fun, to have people arriving at airports and seeing PAN AM stewardesses,” Rick Lewchuk, senior vp of Bell Media Agency and Brand Strategy, said Friday.

CTV, a division of Bell Media, earlier sent a PAN AM “screening lounge” vehicle dressed up as a mock jetliner with a 14 foot high tail and 20 seats on a nationwide mall tour to give Canadians a sneak peak at the ABC drama and other new rookie American series on the Canadian network schedule.