Roots looks to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by showing how nice Canadians are
Roots looks to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday by showing how nice Canadians are
Apparel brand, Roots, has joined companies who are celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday with a video highlighting how “nice” Canadians truly are.
The spot begins with Kim Cattralll saying, “Here’s to 150 years of being nice. Not just the polite nice. Not the funny nice. The real nice. The kind of nice that takes guts.”
It features scenes including one set in 2005 when Canada became the fourth country to legalize same-sex marriage and Michael Leshner and Michael Stark became the first same sex couple to marry. Another shows that refugees are welcome in Canada and that the country has resettled over 40,000 refugees across the country. A further scene shows Greenpeace protesting a whale hunt in 1999, a tribute to the organization that was founded in Vancouver, BC, in 1971. Each of these, and more from the spot, show a piece of Canadian history and points of pride for the country.
Cattrall finishes out with, “Canada here’s to another 150 years of being nice.”
In the summary, the brand writes, “Celebrating 150 years of being nice. Canadians are ‘nice’. We’re polite, friendly people that say sorry when you bump into us. But being nice is so much more. During the past 150 years, we’ve shown the world what it means to be nice through our bravery, strength, pride and confidence. We encourage all of Canada to continue to be nice and celebrate Canada 150 with pride. Happy birthday Canada! Here’s to being nice.”
“It’s all an initiative that celebrates the fact that a tremendous amount of things have been nice about Canada, as well as some things we recognize that we haven’t done well enough,” says James Connell, vice president of ecommerce and marketing at Roots.
The campaign also includes a a search for Canada’s nicest person and fundraising for WE’s indigenous youth program, where all profits from Roots’ “nice” button and enamel pin will go to the program, which is looking to raise over $150,000.
With digital marketing agency, Arcane, managing the social, Canadians can also nominate their fellow friends and neighbors for the “Canada’s Nicest Person” contest in May on social media using the hashtags #BeNice and #RootsIsCanada. The winner will be revealed June 20, with $10,000 going to a charity of their choice.
To continue the sesquicentennial celebration, Roots has also created a Canada Collection clothing line and art installations at five retail locations in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa.