I’m probably not the only person who will be blogging on beer following Federico Fasano’s (https://blogs.ubc.ca/federicofasano/) post which was showcased in class… along with the much-loved ‘I am Canadian’ TV commercial.
I guess I never realized how much of an impact marketing had on my beer-buying decisions: Every time I step into a liquor store to purchase some beer (not that often!), I always tell myself, “Alan, you’re gonna try something different today”. Like Federico, I am not Canadian and I love to try out the products and services that are unique to the place I’m in. I’ll ignore the huge stack of Molson cases right in front of the entrance and walk along the “domestic” isle and gaze at the Moosehead, Granville Island, Kokanee, Sleeman, Whister, and all that jazz but somehow or another it always seems that I wind up bringing Molsons to the cashier!
I was first exposed to the Molson Canadian TV commercials back when I was in high school (see above, that was the first one I remember!) and from that moment, Molson had successfully carved a unique position in my mind as “Canada’s beer”. Since then, Molson had become the automatic choice for me – I had associated Molson with all things Canadian. Molson’s advertising doesn’t stop just at the TV – it has been a major sponsor at hockey games, the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and at other local events –effectively creating a form of brand loyalty that Canadians should drink Molson, simply because they are Canadian! And boy did they use the successful ‘I Am Canadian’ rant to spearhead a decade of “proud to be Canadian” commercials (see below).
While other beers are arguably more Canadian (Molson’s owned by an American company, while brands like Moosehead, Granville Island, etc. are locally owned)… none of them have been able to market themselves the way Molson has, so it’ll take some convincing for me to swap over!
Good post, loved the video clips!