One task for CanadianCrossing.com is to monitor Canadian commercials during free previews of sports leagues on cable: MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice. Our job at BalanceofFood.com is to find amusing and intriguing food marketing trends from the Great White North.
McDonald's brought back the McRib in Canada, and the commercial is a lot more pleasing to watch than the sandwich itself and the U.S. ads to promote the sandwich.
Subway uses a monkey in its ads up north, and that isn't the only difference. Both sides of the border have sandwiches with egg white omelets as part of the breakfast mix. One line in the ad shows off the difference: "Add lots of vegetables to build a better breakfast." Aaaah. Adding vegetables to a carbohydrate and protein dominant sandwich; you wouldn't hear that in a U.S. ad unless you count the side of hash browns, and we don't.
Kellogg's sells a "meal replacement" breakfast cereal called Vector that is aimed at athletes. You get 13 g of protein per serving plus 22 vitamins and minerals. Its ad was plastered with athletes doing their thing.
The slogan is "You Get Out What You Put In." So let's see what they put in:
A serving, as defined by Kellogg's, is 55 grams, about 2 ounces. This is twice as much as the typical identified serving on U.S. cereal boxes. So while 13 grams of protein sounds awesome, 6½ grams is the better comparison for U.S. cereal serving sizes.
Soy is the major source of protein in the cereal: soy protein (4th on ingredient list) and soy protein concentrate (6th).
In the tradition of U.S. cereals, Vector has sugar/glucose-fructose (3rd). Glucose-fructose is the same as high-fructose corn syrup, and Kellogg's cereals in the U.S. are smothered in HFCS. Honey (9th) and barley malt syrup (11th) are other sweeteners.
Vegetable oil (7th) is a rather unusual ingredient in a breakfast cereal as is salt (8th) and colour (14th).
The vitamin theme also applies to Stride Spark gum that has vitamins B6 and B12. In a substance that isn't meant to be swallowed, and chewed for a limited time, how much of vitamins could you absorb?
Taco Bell has a new campaign in Canada called "Burger Backlash," as if Big Brother corporate executives want a burger-dominated world, ignoring all the other fast food that isn't burgers or really cheap Mexican food.
A&W showed off its Spicy Mama burger with jalapeno cheese and chipotle sauce. While the brand in the U.S. has struggled, A&W is alive and well in Canada.
Delissio has come out with a square pizza that is thinner. And the Burger King stacker has hit Canada.
The last day brought out a plethora of food ads:
Tim Hortons didn't make an appearance until the last game in the series, and only then we heard about the fruit smoothies. Food dominated the final day with Second Cup chillers, Swiss Chalet ribs, Boston Pizza (got its name back after the Stanley Cup finals), and Marc Angelo sausage. The piece de resistance was the Arby's Steakhouse Sandwich, "freshly sliced Canadian seasoned beef, melted Swiss, crispy onions, peppercorn sauce on a toasted ciabatta bun."
Very tempting foods and commercials. This is the last peak until the beginning of hockey season in October. Maybe we'll get some local Winnipeg favorites as the Jets return to the NHL ice this fall.
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