This Brand Celebrated Being 0% American at a Time When It’s Critical to Buy Canadian

‘If the president of the US is going to take a swing at the Canadian economy with tariffs, let’s make sure we support our own and buy Canadian’. That’s been the popular sentiment here up north for a good while now. Sure, the status of the trade war seems to vary day in and day out, but the decision by the country’s former allies to no longer play ball has served as a wake-up call to citizens from coast to coast, making them realise that it’s important to support locally, above all else.

However, in some ways, it appears as though this movement might have been a long time coming. For Lactalis Canada and its Cheestrings brand, a study it conducted last year found that ‘made in Canada’ was the top criterion for how Canadians were selecting their cheese. Sure, back then, maybe this sentiment hadn’t yet spread to every single product market, but recent events have certainly changed things. Now, according to a recent Pollara study, 85% of Canadians wish it was easier to identify Canadian products… for obvious reasons.

To this end, Cheestrings, as a proudly Canadian brand, saw an opportunity to celebrate its roots in a fun yet timely way. And so, it called upon longtime partner agency Broken Heart Love Affair (BHLA) to help people recognise this with fun billboards around the Greater Toronto Area. Titled ‘Cheestrings: Made with 0% American Cheese’, the self-explanatory message served as an irreverent, provocative, tongue-in-cheek way of fulfilling Canadian wishes – an important thing at a time when people could use some less serious news.

To learn more about the process of creating a reactive campaign like this, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with BHLA creative directors Michael Morelli and Marty Hoefkes for a chat.
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LBB> Was this an agency or brand-driven initiative? And what made them something you wanted to do?

Michael & Marty> This was a brand-driven initiative, and one that was exciting to work on as it was reacting to a consumer trend. That’s the type of work we love to do because it taps into a true insight – in this case, that as Canadians, we often define ourselves by what we are not.

LBB> Turning this around at the speed of culture would undoubtedly be incredibly tricky. So, what was that process like?

Michael & Marty> From a process standpoint, we had a dedicated team (client and agency) focused on this initiative. We also had daily contact between client and agency – both before and during the campaign – to ensure we were able to move in lockstep together.

LBB> Notably, you already knew that people cared about buying Canadian from Lactalis’ ‘Made in Canada’ study last year. In light of recent events, how have sentiments evolved, and how did this influence your creative approach?

Michael & Marty> As you’ve noted, Cheestrings started to see this ‘buy Canadian’ trend among consumers a year ago. However, we polled Canadians again a few weeks ago, and found that 85% of consumers want it to be easier to identify products of Canada. In light of recent events, consumers are becoming more literate in terms of identifying where the things they're buying are from. This didn't affect how we thought about the brief, but we think it had a huge impact on what consumers thought about our work.

LBB> To this end, what made specifically celebrating Cheestrings’ Canadian roots the right way to capitalise on the moment?

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Michael & Marty> Cheestrings has a ‘Product of Canada’ designation which is regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This designation is featured on Cheestrings’ packaging to inform consumers that it is made using Canadian ingredients, labour, and processing, and that all manufacturing costs are entirely Canadian.

The Cheestrings snack brand has always had a cheeky and fun side, and we’re responding to the issue in the same way, understanding just how serious it is. We felt that with the ‘buy Canadian’ wave spreading across the country, we should do something quick and unique to help consumers understand that our product really does contain 0% US milk, ingredients, labour, and processing.

LBB> What did it take to secure strong OOH placements in such a short time, and to design the ads themselves?

Michael & Marty> The ads came together very quickly, with most of the work being around sizing them for different placements.

As for the placements themselves, our media team, Zenith, worked quickly to get them secured before we'd even finalised the work.

LBB> How did you ensure you found the right tonal approach – something fun, but which also emphasised an important point for Canadian consideration at a critical time?

Michael & Marty> As Canadians, we typically define ourselves by what we are not. And seeing as there’s never been a more critical time to help Canadian consumers identify Canadian products, we figured it’s all about perspective. If something is 100% Canadian, then it is also 0% American (and 0% from anywhere else too).

LBB> Is this something you can see yourselves doing with other clients down the line?

Michael & Marty> Absolutely. But at BHLA, our goal is always to catch people off guard, so we'll keep looking for ways to showcase our brands' Canadian roots without just saying we are Canadian.

LBB> Finally, is there anything you’d like to add about the importance of leaning into Canadian brands at a time like this?

Michael & Marty> We think it’s exciting to see Canadians united in such a common cause to support their country. We are here for that.​