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The Canadian Tire couple is no more.

When the retailer unveiled its new spring ad campaign Thursday, the bearded handyman Ted and his wife Gloria were nowhere to be seen.

The famous pitch-couple had been showing off innovative products for the hardware chain for almost a decade. Loved by some and hated by many, the couple had transcended advertising into the realm of pop culture, where they were parodied by the likes of Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour has 22 Minutes.

Tracy Fellows, a vice president of advertising at Canadian Tire Corp., said the couple's “demo-mercials” were effective, but internal research showed that they were starting to wear on consumers by late last year.

“Though those demo-mercials were extremely successful for us over the last eight years, it was time for us to move on and try to build more of an integrated program between the brand spots and the product spots working closer together,” Ms. Fellows said.

The new Canadian Tire campaign will make its debut during Saturday's Hockey Night in Canada Broadcast.

One spot features a couple covetously eyeing their neighbours' backyard. As they imagine the things they could do with their own yard, Canadian tire signs appear in different parts of the yard, indicating the aisle numbers where different products can be found.

Other ads will continue to highlight specific products, but in a more humorous, less earnest way than the Canadian Tire couple spots.

“We've injected a little more wit, a little personality, a little charm — something that we felt was missing,” said Lance Martin, associate creative director at Taxi Advertising and Design.

The new ads mark the first Canadian Tire campaign for Taxi, which replaced Doner Canada as the retailer's agency last year.