The Maritimes have traditionally struggled with jobs that don't involve fishing. New Brunswick has tech jobs, according to this new ad campaign. The ad campaign is trying to draw people to come to New Brunswick for these tech jobs. Shorter commutes, more opportunities to play, and culture in the province.
The ad is part tourism/part recruitment to live and work in New Brunswick. The implication is that the ad is for people outside the population who have the skills and background, but would need to move. Education is not a strong suit in New Brunswick, so the need is clearly to advertise to those not living in the province. New Brunswick is a beautiful province but this ad speaks more to its ongoing problems.
Scotiabank loves the stories of kids and hockey. This ad recreates famous moments in (mostly) NHL history. The Bobby Orr recreation comes with plenty of padding for the kid to fall on once the goal is scored. Kudos to having a girl recreate the Mario Lemieux goal from the Stanley Cup final against the Minnesota North Stars.
Most American hockey fans will know these goal references, but maybe not the Paul Henderson goal against the Soviets in 1972.
The second Scotiabank spot showcases 3 young teams competing for a chance to be on Hockey Day in Canada. P.K. Subban, Lanny McDonald, and Cassie Campbell-Pascall cheer on the teams, explaining to them what they would get should they be the winning team.
Manulife Insurance is running short, clever ads where people make smarter lifestyle choices and get rewarded by Pinball Clemons, who comes out of nowhere to present them with a gift. This has the potential to be annoying but Clemons' infectious personality saves the ad. The series of ads may not feel Canadian but they stand out in that this concept would never be embraced in the United States.
We have to transition the healthy ads with some of those calories that need to be burned off. Pepsi recruited Duncan Keith, Patrice Bergeron, and John Tavares. They describe the rabid enthusiastic hockey fans that support them. No word on whether those fans were drinking lots of Pepsi to reach that point. We also need to point out that the 3 players are all Canadian though play on American teams. In Canada, they know all the players are Canadian, but U.S. viewers might just see Chicago, Boston, and New York.
We have another singing Cavendish potatoes ad. French fries are great but not usually singing great. These ads are pretty clever. The new tagline in this ad is that Cavendish is the official French fries of the CHL. That feels so Canadian.
KD is the relatively new moniker for Kraft Dinner, because Kraft Dinner isn't hip enough. The couple in this ad pass by a chance to be seen in a nightclub to go home and celebrate with macaroni and cheese sauce. There is no visual of ketchup or hot dogs so it doesn't feel that Canadian.
This OK Tire ad has run quite often during Canadian telecasts. The woman is washing her car when winter comes fast, as it can in Canada. The visual is pretty funny and a reminder that getting your car ready for winter should happen sooner rather than later.
P.K. Subban lives in the United States but is still a Canadian, but not Canadien, icon. This Bridgestone tire ad reflects his good-natured personality. Best line: "I'm from Canada. It's never too cold for ice cream."
Westjet promotes employee ownership in the spirit of Southwest Airlines not so long ago. The new campaign brings that home with the idea that a family would bring a turtle onto a flight. The Westjet employee ends up babysitting the turtle. If this wasn't based on a real story, you wouldn't imagine a family would bring a turtle on a flight. The ad suggests its employees are great but its customers aren't too bright.
Explore Edmonton, besides the awesome alliteration, is a new ad to me inviting people to come visit Alberta's capital. The commercial run on a Sportsnet national telecast of the Oilers in Vancouver, so the audience was national. Having been to Edmonton, the ad was fairly spot-on though I haven't seen the prominent new building featured in the ad, the new Rogers Place downtown.
This Manitoba tourism ad has also run for some time but finally tracked this down to see for yourself. This is also the first time I've seen the ad since I visited Manitoba. I still haven't seen polar bears but didn't expect to in Winnipeg. Saskatoon berries, yes. Polar bears, no.
The strangest ad was a curious rendition of what happens when you mix food scraps with recycling via Toronto Recycling. The imagery is memorable and pretty funny, all you can ask for in an ad. And the message is delivered in a clever though unusual fashion.
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The ads appeared on Canadian-based NHL telecasts during the NHL Center Ice free preview to start the 2016-2017 NHL season.
video credits: various companies featured in the ads
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