boston pizzaThe largest pizza chain based in Canada knows that Vancouver Canucks fans would rather chew on aluminum foil than root for the hated Toronto Maple Leafs. And Calgary Flames fans will never root for the Edmonton Oilers, the team's biggest rival in Alberta.
But on the eve of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the casual dining chain is making a much-needed call for Canadian unity as the birthplace of hockey looks to end a 30-year championship drought.
The initiative is a stroke of marketing genius for the pizza chain, which appears to be trying to capitalize on something most Canadians can agree on: It's been far too long since a Canadian NHL team hoisted the Stanley Cup. is. In fact, it's been more than 30 years since the Montreal Canadiens won the Cup in 1993. At the time, Jurassic Park was the biggest box office movie, people were primarily using pagers instead of cell phones, and it was the year the Backstreet Boys formed. Beer on the BP menu was $2.
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A new “Team Up for the Cup” campaign invites Canadians to temporarily – and perhaps reluctantly – put aside their regular-season allegiances to their favorite teams and give Canada the Cup for the first time since 1993. We urge everyone to support all the teams competing to bring back the game. This is BP's first major undertaking since Camp Jefferson won the account late last year.
“What's interesting is that despite our competitiveness, we've suffered together for decades,” said a senior at Camp Jefferson, a Toronto digital advertising agency that helped build the campaign. Ian Barr, vice president and head of strategy, said: “It's been over 30 years since a Cup game was played on Canadian soil. That's ridiculous. As a brand that brings people together, we thought it would be fun to capitalize on that common pain.”
The playoff campaign will run across TV/OLV, radio, social, and contextually responsive digital and OOH placements near Team Canada's home arena. All assets will be sent to a dedicated microsite where fans are invited to sign a detailed pledge of support for all Canadian teams remaining in the playoffs, regardless of how they feel about the remaining teams. will be done.
Camp Jefferson first began teasing the campaign with street ads mentioning how long it had been since a Canadian team last bought the Cup home. Components include the long-defunct Blockbuster video chain (“The last time a Canadian team won the Cup, it was Blockbuster'') and telephone booths (“…people still use these… The advertisements included references to period-specific elements, such as “I had a great time”). Additionally, a national influencer and sports personality campaign is handing out items that remind us of the last time a Canadian team won a championship (remember the Beanie Babies?).
The campaign itself is anchored by a 30-second spot called “30 Years of Suffering,” which references some of the heartbreaking playoff losses fans of Team Canada have endured over the past three decades. As fans become aware of the various losses suffered by Canadian teams over the years, we are reminded of broken walls, cracked plates embedded in TV screens, televisions run over by trucks, and radios hurled after a heartbreaking knockout. and so on. The narrator of this spot is the voice of Canadian hockey, who called the Stanley Cup Final on Sportsnet and made one of the most famous calls in Canadian hockey history: Sidney Crosby's extension at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Chris Cuthbert, who was in charge of the “Golden Goal'' of the war, will be in charge of the narration. .
However, the spot creates a hopeful atmosphere by showing fans of rival teams (seemingly anxious) heading to Boston Pizza before cheering on the Canadian team. Campaign site.
“As a brand that is all about bringing people together, the NHL Playoffs are an important occasion for Boston Pizza,” said James Kawalecki, vice president of marketing for Boston Pizza International. “People come to Boston Pizza because they're hungry for more than food, they're hungry for victory after more than 30 years of suffering.”
This campaign aligns with Boston Pizza's long-standing strategy of creative and engaging marketing that taps key cultural markets and exists across both traditional and emerging media channels. Past examples include last year's temporary “name change” to “Auston Pizza” after Auston Matthews' Leafs advanced to the first round and their rival Boston Bruins were eliminated. , and a “patio retraining” program after pandemic restrictions end.
Boston Pizza has 373 stores in Canada, 22 in the United States, and 22 in Mexico.
