Canadian Club? Damn Right
I’d read about this campaign in the industry mags. But only in the last 3 weeks have I begun to see it firsthand in transit shelters throughout Toronto. At first glance I was appalled at the headline “Your dad had a van for a reason”. The feminist in me couldn’t reconcile the idea that Canadian Club whiskey was encouraging men to become mister suave – until I realized I’d dated half a dozen men just like that (with mixed results).
But then I read the subtext. It’s not about becoming a man-whore at all – it’s about striking that balance between machismo and metrosexual. And gentlemen, I must say, this is what women want. We’re not interested in man that requires more primping than we do. Nor do I want a man who gingerly sips pink cocktails while I sit there with my vodka, straight-up. I certainly don’t want a man who loves monster truck rallies and thinks that belching loudly makes him charming. And a 30-year-old virgin? No thanks.
So, it all comes down to this: this CC campaign is about finding that middle ground – masculine, classic, sophisticated. And if it takes a few semi-chauvinistic headlines to get the attention of then men who need to hear this? Well, I can live with that. After all, I’m more concerned with the result than the process.
Incidentally, for the creative among you, you can add your own image to the posters at www.canadianclub.com.
Transit Shelter in Chicago
Magazine Ad
Filed under: marketing | 3 Comments
Tags: advertising, canadian club, CC, marketing, whiskey, whisky
There was nothing like Friday night. Dad would get paid and head down to the local watering hole. Him and his buddies would drink for hours and you could here the laughter as his best bud, our neighbor, dropped him off. I can still smell the CC. I can hear the sounds of breaking dishes, and my mother being thrown around the living room. NOTHING is like the smell of CC on a man. I remember the time he came into my room and shook me repeatedly after his Friday night outing. He only did it once as the next time he came in after imbibing on CC I hit him in the head with a tennis racket. Yes, CC has given me memories of my dad that I will never forget.
As a believer in freedom of speech, I defend your right to speak your mind. That said, I think it’s cowardly to blame a brand for the actions of a grown man with (presumably) the mental faculties required to choose between RIGHT and WRONG, enjoyment and overindulgence. You may as well blame McDonald’s for the epidemic of obese children, when you know full well that it was the bad choices of their parents that led to this unfortunate result.
I’m sorry that your childhood is filled with memories of an abusive father. If littering the web with your story brings a sense of comfort or closure, continue. You are entitled to that.
You want to know the stunning irony Lindsay, I am a rye drinker. Crown Royal being my first choice and CC the second. I am acutely aware of the the fact that I cannot blame a particular product for the way in which a person behaves. Had I a 2 digit IQ south of 70 I would blame McDonald’s for the obesity issue in north America, but I fall in the 91st percentile. As a child, when you saw the bottle on the kitchen counter and the inevitable relapse of my dad from father to wife beater, you began to associate one with the other, cause and effect if you will. Pavlov comes to mind.