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OCCASIONALLY A TELEVISION COMMERCIAL CAUSES SOCIAL, POLITICAL, and business ramifications way beyond anyone's initial expectations. In March 2000, a sixty-second television beer commercial became an overnight phenomenon. For approximately three months thereafter, the advertisement became a national and international focus of debates on Canadian nationalism and identity. Some issues concerning national identity will be discussed.
Molson Canadian "The Rant"
Sometimes a single television commercial can have such an impact that it takes on a life of its own. A few examples of such advertisements include:
1. Coca-Cola's 1971 song "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" that became "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," a one-million-units-sales best seller.
2. LIFE brand cereal-Quaker Oats Company showing Mikey enjoying LIFE brand. "Hey Mikey" entered the lexicon.
3. The greatest commercial ever made-Apple Macintosh's "1984," showing Big Brother (IBM) in an Orwellian nightmare-caused the Macintosh revolution.
4. Clara Peller barked, "Where's the Beef?!" for Wendy's and a popular culture phenomenon was born. American presidential candidate Walter Mondale used the phrase in his campaign (Ward Fawcett).
Molson's beer commercial, in a Canadian context, now stands as an example of a single advertisement that now joins the pantheon of selected "best" television presentations.
Montreal-based Molson Company, founded in 1786, is Canada's preeminent brewer and one hundred percent Canadian owned, with sales in excess of $2 billion. One of its top-selling brands is called CANADIAN. Between 1994 and 1998, Molson had used the tag line, "I am CANADIAN." This line was replaced by "Here's where we get CANADIAN," widely criticized as flat-mouthed. Responsibility for reviving the CANADIAN brand went to Brett Marchand, an Alberta-born marketing executive who had been lured away from Campbell Soup in Philadelphia. Grassroots interviews clearly indicated a growing sense of national pride among the key niche, nineteen- to twenty-five-year-olds. The Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne D'Arcy recommended that Molson revive the "I am CANADIAN" slogan. The "Joe Rant" emerged as a passionate declaration of national pride, a definitive piece of popular culture. As they say, the rest is history.
I AM CANADIAN
Hey.
I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader.
I don't live in an igloo, eat blubber, or own a dogsled.
I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada.
Although I'm certain...