Molson: I am Canadian once more, and proud of it

I am . . . back.

One year after dropping its long-running "I am Canadian" tag line, Molson Canada has decided it wasn't such a smart move after all. The brewer has done an about-face and confirms it is reviving the slogan for its flagship Canadian beer.

The tag line will anchor a new advertising campaign that launches today. The slogan was used from 1994 until spring of last year, when Molson replaced it with "Here's where we get Canadian," a clunky phrase that was widely criticized in the ad business.

Resurrecting the slogan wasn't a difficult decision for the brewer.

" 'I am Canadian' is the perfect positioning for this company," says Glen Hunt, group creative director with Canadian's ad agency, Bensimon Byrne D'Arcy of Toronto, which took over the business after the slogan had been dropped. "We felt it would be irresponsible not to go back."

"It's our 'Just do it,' " adds Paul Thomson, a spokesman for Molson Canada, the brewing unit of Toronto-based Molson Inc.

Molson Canada credits the slogan with giving Canadian a major lift in the market share battle with Labatt Blue during the nineties. The tag line's success made last year's decision to drop it all the more controversial.

Industry observers say reviving the tag line is the right move, but warn that Molson can't simply return to the same style of advertising it was doing or the slogan could quickly become stale. The trick will be to continually update its ads to appeal to Molson's target customers in the 19 to 24 age group.

"I think it's a good decision," says Alan Middleton, professor of marketing at York University. " 'I am' is a confident war cry . . . as long as it is kept up to date, it could be a long-term badge for the brand."

In keeping with the slogan, the brewer will pour on the patriotism in a television commercial that airs starting the week of March 27, but in a way that departs from the rock-music video style of some prior ads.

The 60-second spot, titled "The Rant," features a Jim Carrey-like actor dismissing American stereotypes about Canadians in a rousing speech.

Clad in a plaid shirt and jeans, he steps up to a microphone and declares, tentatively at first, "Hey, I'm not a lumberjack or a fur trader and I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber or own a dogsled . . ." A screen behind him fills with images including a Canadian flag, a dogsled team and footage of Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series.

"I have a Prime Minister, not a president," he continues. "I speak English and French, not American. I believe in peacekeeping not policing, diversity not assimilation, and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal . . ."

He is soon shouting: "And it is pronounced zed, not zee, zed! Canada is the second-largest land mass, the first nation of hockey and the best part of North America! My name is Joe, and I am Canadian!"

As if realizing his rant was out of character for a Canadian, he meekly thanks the audience and gives two thumbs up.

Prior to airing on television, the ad will be shown in Cineplex Odeon theatres starting today. Certain theatres will feature a live actor -- not the guy in the ad -- who stands up and delivers identical lines. The same visuals from the ad will appear on the movie screen.

Mr. Hunt, who wrote the spot, had no shortage of material to draw upon. Prior to joining Bensimon Byrne last year when the agency was pitching for the Molson Canadian account, he was working with Ammirati Puris in New York where he encountered numerous Americans with little knowledge of Canada.

"I think I heard every one of those things [in the ad]pushed at me by friends who had never visited Canada," he says.

If the ad connects with Canadians on an emotional level, it's because Mr. Hunt has had some practice. While working in Ammirati's Toronto office, the Edmonton-born Mr. Hunt wrote the widely acclaimed 1998 spot for arch-rival Labatt Blue in which a street hockey game breaks out in downtown Toronto.

Brett Marchand, vice-president for the Molson Canadian brand, brought similar insights to the table. Also born in Edmonton, he worked in Philadelphia for several years before returning to Canada to join Molson in December. Living in the United States "just magnifies everything about how different we are from Americans," he says.

During focus groups, such differences were raised frequently by Canadian's target customers. The way they conveyed their attitudes also helped shape the ad. Many would start off slowly when asked what it means to be a Canadian, but by the end of the interview they had worked themselves up emotionally. The ad mimics that reaction.

The campaign also includes a Web site that will offer sports information, a hockey pool, live concerts and an area where visitors can download MP3 music files. The site will launch in the next few weeks, but Molson would not give a specific date.

Bringing back "I am Canadian" may not be a radical move as far as consumers are concerned. Although it was discontinued last year, the slogan carried such resonance that "people didn't really realize it was gone," Mr. Marchand says. John Heinzl can be reached by E-mail -- jheinzl@globeandmail.ca -- or by fax, (416) 585-5695.