June 17
Rather than the boring old shirt and tie combo, luxury menswear retailer Harry Rosen has introduced a new Father’s Day gift that reflects the times: the matching shirt and mask.
Developed in tandem with agency partner Zulu Alpha Kilo, the limited-edition set grew out of the company’s efforts to make masks for hospital workers during COVID-19. The enthusiastic response from customers led the company to make the sets available online. “Father’s Day marks the perfect occasion for us to promote fashion that is both safe and stylish,” says chief marketing officer Trinh Tham.
Harry Rosen is promoting the set across its social media channels, with a contest urging people to nominate a special dad and explain why he deserves to receive the special gift set.
June 16
Tim Hortons is creating a limited edition series of “Hero Cups” to thank essential workers for their contributions during the pandemic. Names will be printed on the cups, and the Tim Hortons logo replaced with a large “Thank You” or “Merci.”
People can nominate anyone who kept working during the lockdown, including truck drivers, retail, public transit and, of course, health care employees.
“Frontline workers have been the backbone of our communities during these extremely difficult times. Like all Canadians, we want to ensure that we continue to show our gratitude and appreciation by shining a spotlight on them,” said Hope Bagozzi, chief marketing officer of Tim Hortons.
Just in time for Father’s Day, Calgary brewery Best Of Kin is releasing “Dad Beer,” a lagered homage to the co-founders’ late father.
“This is the beer our dad would’ve kept stocked in his mini fridge to enjoy after a long day’s work. It’s a clean drinking thirst quenching lagered ale based on a traditional recipe,” said Best of Kin’s head of brewing, Collin Mortson.
The beer is being launched with a limited edition run of 6-packs that the brand has turned into a Father’s Day greeting card, or as they like to call them, “greeting cans.” The limited edition 6-pack packaging, only available around Calgary, was developed by Toronto-based agency Conflict.
Quebecor is launching so-called “pause ads” that are activated whenever a user pauses a full-length video. The format was first introduced by big U.S. streaming content providers like Hulu last year.
“When people pause a video, it means they’re watching, so advertisers can be sure their ads will be seen by engaged viewers,” said Renaud Langlois, director, digital operations at Quebecor. “Pause Ad also lets advertisers improve campaign performance by producing creative that takes into account the video environment in which the ad will appear and appeal to consumers in a more targeted way.”
TVA.ca says it reaches 1.9 million users per month and streams 2.7 million videos.
