Lowe Roche Celebrates Canadian Hero with a Portrait of the Nation

Samuel de Champlain helped shaped the face of Canada, and now Canadians have the chance to do the same for him.

While Samuel de Champlain was a significant figure in Canadian history — hailed as the ‘first modern cartographer of Canada’ and an expert mariner who crossed the Atlantic 27 times amongst many other amazing feats — an interesting fact about him is that nobody really knows what he looked like. The pointy-mustachioed visage people have become familiar with is, in fact, merely the product of an artist’s imagination. So, to generate buzz around the release of TFO’s “Rêve de Champlain,” a six-part miniseries providing a portrait of the explorer and celebrating 400 years of a Francophone presence in Ontario, the French-language public broadcaster has created “Champlain: Portrait of a Nation,” a microsite where Canadians can lend their faces to create a composite image of one of Canada’s most notable, but mysterious historical figures.

“Samuel de Champlain espoused values like collaboration and perseverance, and he was a humanist, diplomat, peacemaker, all of which set the tone for what Canada has become,” said Jane Murray, Executive Creative Director, Lowe Roche. “We wanted to do something that brought Champlain into the modern day world, and helped all Canadians, young and old, personally connect to a man who, for many, is just a figure in a history book. An online experience is a perfect way to do that.” 

Canadians can visit revedechamplain.com to learn more about the man and the TV series, which is based on the book Le Rêve de Champlain by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Hackett Fischer, and then revedechamplain.com/portrait, where they can upload their picture, along with the faces of other Canadians, to give a face to Champlain and celebrate the spirit of the man by creating a unified face of our nation in the process. Champlain’s face, like the face of our nation, will change over time as more people add their portraits to the mix, and visitors to the microsite will be able to see the individual portraits of all those who decide to donate their face to Champlain.  

"The celebrations surrounding the 400th anniversary of Francophone presence in Ontario are a unique opportunity to celebrate this historical figure who inspired an entire nation. Samuel de Champlain explored our territory while staying true to his values of respect. He would be happy to see that even today, Champlain is a part of us all", concluded Pascal Arseneau, Chief Marketing Officer at Groupe Média TFO.

Created in partnership with Toronto-based advertising agency Lowe Roche, the “Champlain: Portrait of a Nation” microsite is available in both English and French and will be supported by digital and social media. “Rêve de Champlain” will air on TFO in French only, premiering on March 16.  An English adaptation is in the works.