Why This Beverage Brand Built a Lie Detector to Test Canadian Niceness
Around the world, Canadians are known for several things. Maple syrup, hockey, riding polar bears to school (OK, that one isn’t actually true), and being nice. In particular, this last one rings true both within the borders of the country, and beyond. While it’s a reputation that citizens are proud to carry, equally, it represents a key touchpoint in the Canadian identity. “We’re nice people” is just as meaningful as hearing the national anthem played. It’s the calling card of any dutiful Canadian.
With this in mind, new-to-Canada brand Simply Spiked saw an opportunity to promote its new Spiked Lemonade in a big way. Partnering with the agency Citizen Relations, the two decided to test whether Canadians are actually as nice as they claim to be. Inspired by the emphasis of real fruit juice in the cooler, and research which found insights including the fact that of all Canadians 19 and up, 39% have said ‘no problem’ when it was definitely a problem, the ‘Keep It Real’ campaign was born. Anchored by the creation of a legitimate lie detector in a can (the ‘Keep It Real Can’), Canadians everywhere were put to the test to see if, truly, they could live up to their classic reputation.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with Citizen Relations’ chief creative officer North America, Josh Budd, and Simply Spiked marketing manager Carlie Lorentz, to learn how this happened, and how it played out.
LBB> What was the brief you gave to Citizen like, and why were they the right agency for the job?
Carlie> Simply Spiked launched its highly anticipated spiked lemonade in Canada during March 2023. Across the country, the non-alcoholic Simply juice that inspired the alcoholic beverage has mass awareness, but very few had heard about this new cooler offering. Our brief centred around this lack of awareness: how do we let consumers know about the launch of Simply Spiked and encourage trial? Fuelled by a highly successful launch in the United States in 2022, we knew one thing was true - once consumers tried it, they absolutely loved it. So, we wanted to put our credentials to the test and get as many Canadian consumers to try us as possible.
Molson Coors has a long standing relationship with Citizen Relations. Citizen's mission is to make every conversation count, which is exactly what we needed with this launch. We wanted to get people talking and sharing authentic and honest opinions on our product, and cultivate a community with our humorous tone.
Josh> The brief for this campaign was simple: let Canadians know that Simply juice is now spiked. Since ‘Simply Spiked’ is made with 5% real fruit juice, it felt natural to lean into ideas around what’s real - and the natural tension inside that. In turn, this got us wondering exactly how real (or not real) our consumers would be… particularly in social settings, where our product is best enjoyed.
How could we test how ‘real’ people are? What experiments could we run? The notion of a lie detector came up, but we didn’t want to shine the spotlight too far from the product we were launching… and it kind of just developed from there.
LBB> Reflecting on the Canadian obsession with being nice is very relatable. What made this the perfect approach for the creative, and how did this factor into the research process?
Josh> We wanted to make the Canadian launch unique, and what’s more Canadian than holding your tongue to be polite instead of speaking your mind? There’s a really fascinating insight in Canadian culture we got to explore when we started asking if being polite was at odds with being completely honest.
Simply Spiked is a fun, upbeat, and energetic brand, and it made sense for that type of voice to disrupt people’s patterns and ask questions to shake things up a bit. Do you really like your friend’s, uh, ‘unique’ new haircut, or are you just saying that to be nice? Is that dog with the bulging eyes and underbite actually cute, or are you trying to avoid looking like a jerk? Just how often are Canadians hiding their true feelings on the little stuff, anyway?
Once we had the ‘Keep It Real Can’ up and running, there was no hiding from the truth. Simply Spiked got to ask the hard questions and even the most polite Canadians had to lay it all out there, true or false, when they answered.
LBB> Did you have a hand in the research process? If so, what was that like, and what were the most interesting/surprising takeaways?
Josh> We engaged directly with Canadians using a national omnibus survey to arm us with the facts and stats to tell the story the right way while also zeroing in on regional differences. As such, we found relevance in every province and wove a sense of competition into the creative with a secondary call to action for each province to prove their realness at this summer’s cross-country pop-up events.
All in all, the research we did on how far Canadians are willing to stretch the truth to keep the peace was a lot of fun data to play with in the out-of-home campaign, and the response was phenomenal. It’s not every day that a brand calls you out on your bullshit and you laugh and agree!
Carlie> We did! We know that Canadians are considered some of the nicest people in the world, but as a brand that keeps it real, Simply Spiked wanted to know if they actually are that nice.
There were so many interesting stats, but we were really intrigued by were the differences per province:
The data suggested that Canada is split when it comes to lying to protect others…
- Half of Canadians 19 and up (51%) have lied to avoid conflict or protect someone’s feelings. Of all Canadians 19 and up...
- 39% have rejected invites because they ‘had plans’.
- 39% have said ‘no problem’ when it was definitely a problem.
- 26% have been dishonest about liking a birthday/holiday gift.
- And 23% have lied about their thoughts on someone’s new look (Hey, maybe that haircut isn’t for everyone?).
And British Columbians find themselves in situations where they feel they should lie more than any other province:
- 23% of British Columbians 19 and up say they feel compelled to lie often or very often, versus 18% in Ontario, 17% in Atlantic Canada, 13% in Alberta, and only 9% in our sweet, sweet prairie provinces.
- In Quebec, the number is only 7%!
We also worked with our paid media agency, Wavemaker, to put these stats on digital out of home ads across the country.
LBB> Let’s talk about the lie detector itself. What was the design process like? Who did you work with to bring it to life, and how long did it take?
Josh> The campaign hinged on being able to create net new tech, so we partnered with an all-star creative technologist who educated us on how polygraph tests work, and then we collaborated to define how similar elements could be included.
We used Autodesk’s Fusion360 to design the internal structure of our can-shaped lie detector, designed a branded wrapper to bring it all together, and the final can was iterated and perfected over a five week period.
In terms of makeup, specifically, the Keep It Real Can was created using 3D printed parts and an ESP32 board with Wi-Fi capabilities. By prioritising what we believed to be the most important elements of the polygraph test, and investing dollars into the bells and whistles that would make it fun and easy-to-use from a user perspective, we struck a careful balance that allowed us to both impress and entertain, developing a total of nine branded lie detectors which could be used for media relations, influencer content, and pop-ups, across Canada and the US.
LBB> And what all can it do? Technically speaking, how does it work?
Josh> It was really critical for this to not just be a gimmick, but to functionally be accurate as a lie detector. The Keep It Real Can leverages the same tech as a modern polygraph test to compare two readings: one taken before you are asked a question, and one taken after you answer.
The can connects to your phone via wifi, and is easily controllable through a web browser interface. It monitors sweat gland activity through galvanic skin response and heartbeat measurement through pulse rate electrodes, then sends the results to your phone - with the base of the can changing colour to tell if you’re lying or not, and vibrating haptic response feedback every time someone is deemed to be lying.
LBB> The accompanying spot is also super fun! How did this come to life?
Josh> We worked with our good friends over at Undivided Creative to bring the Keep It Real Can to life. Joseph Saraceno, our director, really helped take our concept and bring it to the next level with his keen eye for product work.
In terms of post, while we definitely had a vision of how this should look, absolutely none of this would have been possible without Steven Puhach, our editor over at Nimiopere. It was one thing to describe an overarching concept in abstract terms, and completely another to see it come to life through Steve’s work. To build it, we started looking at music and audio very early on in the process, and that came through in the seamless way Steve pieced together the edit.
LBB> Do you have any memorable lessons learned from the making of this new campaign?
Josh> Two things come to mind:
1. New tech takes time, patience, and a joint faith between client and agency that the dream can come true.
2. Do your research. Our upfront research on the relationship between truth and our target delivered some great OOH creative and validated the interest we’ve had in people getting their hands on our Keep It Real Can.
Carlie> Our biggest takeaway from this campaign is seeing success when linking our primary assets/strategy directly into the execution. Our two biggest assets are our real taste, and our differentiated tone. Citizen was able to hone in on these two assets to develop a talkworthy mechanism to deliver this strategy. The Keep It Real Can not only leans into our Canadian values of honesty and humour, but also stems from the uniformly known notion that we are extremely polite. The takeaway from this success is (no pun intended), to keep it simple. Leverage your differentiators and find a way to authentically connect with consumers to re-enforce them.
LBB> What has the initial response been like?
Josh> In a word, incredible - from media, influencers and consumers alike, with one media member even saying ‘this was easily the most surprising and entertaining PR pitch I've received in quite some time’. Knowing first hand how many pitches they receive, there is truly no greater compliment.
The media response has seen our lie detectors make unprecedented broadcast pit stops in cities from Vancouver to Edmonton, Toronto to Hamilton, and Montreal, with a steady stream of requests still coming through.
By providing hosts with a gamified story that they can engage with directly, Canadian media have been able to incorporate Simply Spiked messaging into segments in ways which are authentic and fun not only for them, but for their listeners as well.
We also took our can to the streets of Toronto and Vancouver, and the public was having just as much fun with our one-of-a-kind can as the media have!
LBB> How does this campaign fit into your brand’s goals for 2023 and beyond?
Carlie> Our main goal for the ‘Keep It Real’ campaign was to drive brand awareness, and ultimately sales, for a new-to-Canada product. Simply Spiked has a fun, cheeky, and real brand tone, and we wanted to make sure that this came across to consumers in an authentic way. We wanted to launch this new brand to Canada in a breakthrough way, which is why it was so important to us to come up with a campaign that fully articulated who we are.
There are a lot of coolers on the shelf, so we really wanted to focus on what sets us apart and why this should be Canadians’ go-to. Simply Spiked Lemonade is inspired by the iconic juice brand Simply, and that’s really our differentiator. It’s made using real fruit juice, and that’s why we’re so committed to being real that we created the world's first lie detector in a can.
This was the perfect introduction for the RTD in Canada, and we can’t wait to see where this fun brand, and great drink takes us!
LBB> What’s one truth that the can has forced you to reveal?
Josh> We’ve had a ton of fun testing the Keep It Real Can in our office over the past few months. My favourite has been asking if my co-workers like working with me, because while everybody so far has come back as truthfully confirming, I can’t promise they aren’t just good liars. As for myself, I haven’t been caught fibbing… yet!
