Boston Pizza Celebrates Easing of Covid Restrictions with a 'How to Patio' Refresher

Forgotten how to prevent an awkward encounter with your server? Or maybe you’re unsure how to adjust your eyes from outdoor sun to indoor space? Well, now there’s a book for that.

As Canada’s vaccine rollout continues, and lockdown restrictions ease, most Canadians are celebrating the return of long vacant patios. For some, however, the extended lockdown has left them questioning if they even remember how to carry out the simple patio tasks they used to do so effortlessly.  

For those in need of a refresher course on how to patio (yes, it can be a verb), Boston Pizza is here to help. After all, who better to help than the restaurant brand with the most patios in Canada?

Boston Pizza’s new tongue-in-cheek campaign is centered around helping customers get their patio game on point by re-training them on the things they’ve forgotten.

The centrepiece is a 72-page manual featuring articles and infographics on such things as protecting your beer from patio wasps, ordering from a real human server, and pulling apart coasters.

A select group of lucky customers will also win a limited number of 1st edition copies of this educational text through a competition running on Boston Pizza’sInstagram account. For those not lucky enough to snag a printed copy, the e-book can be downloaded here.

And for consumers who prefer audio, there’s a hotline. At 1-855-BP-HOW-TO you can hear lessons on basic patio etiquette over the phone.

“With the most patio locations across Canada, Boston Pizza wrote the book on patio-ing in this country. That’s why it was necessary for us to actually write the book on patio-ing,” said Cam Boyd, creative director at john st., the agency that created the campaign.

“Sitting on the patio, enjoying the weather, a drink and some great food and the in-person company of friends are pastimes Canadians have universally been longing to return to. And we just want to make that return to a BP Patio a smooth and enjoyable one,” said James Kawalecki, vice president, marketing at Boston Pizza.