As the most ubiquitous spot to grab a coffee and a donut in the morning since 1964, Tim Hortons has long been a fixture in Canadians’ daily lives. As they were being sold off to the American burger chain Wendy’s in 1995, the company led focus groups that discovered “Timmy’s” had become indelibly linked over the years with Canadian identity itself so they began playing to that image with folksy "True Stories" TV ads about hockey and small-town Canadian life. Other big chains like Canadian Tire did likewise, slapping red maple leaves on every sign, and you could argue this patriotic marketing peaked in March 2000 with Molson’s legendary “I Am Canadian” campaign. “Joe” won the hearts of our nation!
25 years later, it feels like time for Joe to make a comeback. No, not that specific character, though actor Jeff Douglas, now a host on CBC Radio, recently mused that “maybe it’s time to dust off the plaid.” No, I mean that kind of patriotic marketing that roots a company in place and helps bind our country’s people together. I’m not sure Canada has ever been as fractured as it right now, with our provinces divided and an American president openly declaring his desire to annex our country. If there was ever a time to rally round our flag, it’s now.
But let’s not do so without thought and intent. Patriotism may warm the heart but nationalism rots the mind. We’ve never been ones for American-style chest-thumping and Canadians have a lot to discuss about our people and our place in the world. While many of us got excited about “Canada’s 150th birthday” in 2017, Indigenous peoples remained unimpressed at this country’s lack of reconciliation progress and inability to face and examine our genocidal history. Young Canadians like Mojisola Adamson wrestle with what it means to love a country that talks a lot about our multicultural identity but doesn’t always follow through on embracing that diversity. As she notes, loving your country means wanting it to grow and improve as well.
Social media marketer Coby Shuman wrote a thoughtful piece for Strategy magazine in 2021 urging companies to give up on standard Canada Day flag-waving and create more sensitive messaging and campaigns that truly work with communities in a tangible way. As usual, it comes down to the “3 Bees” of Breakfast Culture’s Purpose-Driven Marketing: Be authentic, be present, be prepared. We’ve helped many organizations navigate identity and demographics with strategy and style so please check out our Resources page and more to see how we can help.
As Canada bands together to weather this new period of turmoil and instability, there’s a real opportunity here for companies and brands to deliver true leadership, provided they’re smart and authentic, like Simu Liu and the Juno Awards writers were in 2022 when they gave the classic “I Am Canadian” rant a 21st century remix. There are a lot of “Joes” out there with true patriot love.
To learn more, please schedule a talk with me today: https://calendly.com/jefferson7/30min
Let's Break Some Eggs!
– Jefferson Darrell, Founder and CEO, Breakfast Culture™ Inc.
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