Back when the Eaton Centre still had an Eaton’s, they also advertised on TV. I have found some entertaining commercials for the mall from 1983 / 1984.
Archive | January, 2010
Advertising Week 2010
24 Jan
January 25 – 29
Join the Canadian advertising and marketing community for an exciting, week-long celebration of our craft. Advertising Week is a limited, once-a-year opportunity to explore the dynamic world in which we live and work. The week is full of seminars, creative presentations and educational sessions that will both stimulate and inspire. Come to learn, to think, to challenge and to catch up with friends and colleagues. Don’t miss it.
T.O. Agency Spotlight: John St. – Republic of Bacon
24 Jan
Toronto agency, John St. has come out with a new campaign for Maple Leaf that will bring joy to bacon lovers everywhere. There are currently three TV spots that show the love that people, especially men, have for bacon. The commercials are supported by a complimentary website, featuring videos and articles devoted to a declaration of love for bacon.
From the press release:
“In researching bacon, the creatives at john st. discovered a cult-like following behind it. “We found all sorts of bacon related goodies – from bacon band-aids to bacon scarves to bacon ice cream recipes,” says Paul Constantakis, copywriter, john st. “We decided to harness this love for bacon into a place bacon lovers can call home and the Republic of Bacon was born.”
Three broadcast spots, “Proposal”, “Spa” and “Sorry”, all direct traffic to the microsite republicofbacon.com. Like any country, Republic of Bacon, has many attractions: A casino where you can win bacon for a decade. A Red Light District where you can watch edgier videos. Restaurants where you can find select bacon recipes, a Public Service Announcements section where a Bacon Safety Sergeant provides bacon safety tips and where you can find the national anthem of the Republic of Bacon. There’s a community that features bacon bloggers from around the net and so much more.
“Originally, the brief was ‘experience the joy of bacon with Maple Leaf bacon’,” says Angus Tucker, co-creative director, john st. “When brainstorming, we had come up with all sorts of ideas revolving around the joys of bacon. The ‘Republic of Bacon’ was our way of housing all these ideas under one roof.”
TTC – Vintage Commercials
18 JanIt has been along time since I have heard anyone say anything positive about the TTC, especially with the recent fare hike and sleepy collector. The TTC needs to do something to improve its image. Back in the day, they use to advertise on TV with some hilarious commercials. These commercials make the TTC seem like a cool and easy way to get around the city. Looking at these commercials, the 1980′s were a great time to ride the TTC…there are no grumpy TTC employees, no one is delayed and there isn’t even any crazy people yelling on the subway.
The taglines of “Toronto’s Entertainment Network” and “We’ve Got A Good Thing Going” create an image of a transit system that is hard to imagine when thinking of the TTC today. I’m not sure if new commercials will really improve Torontonians opinion of the TTC at the moment, but it should strive to be more like the image it created for itself in these commercials.
Vampires Invade Queen St. W
18 JanFrom the Torontoist: “Vampires and Illegal Signs on Queen West” By Alixandra Gould
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The property at 224 Queen Street West, at the corner of Queen and McCaul, appears at first glance to be an ordinary neighbourhood coffee shop. That is, until you look closer. Inside, the glass fridges are filled with bags of fake blood, newspapers blaring “China to stop all blood exports” headlines line the windowsill, and the drink list looks like a vampire’s favourite meal. Stepping back, there’s a sign reading “Capture Humans” with Uncle Sam pointing at the passing pedestrians. And above that, a gigantic billboard advertising the new vampire thriller, Daybreakers. This isn’t a coffee shop at all: it’s one giant promotion.
Juxta Productions, an outdoor-advertising sign studio located on Front Street, has been renting the space since the summer, and is responsible for the Daybreakers Blood Café. It combines an art installation on the inside with large advertisements that wrap around the outside.
Maple Pictures, the company behind Daybreakers, contacted Juxta after seeing the success of previous advertisements at the location for Sherlock Holmes, Whiteout, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The installation is certainly a conversation piece, but part of it is also illegal. Rami Tabello of illegalsigns.ca, a organization dedicated to eradicating unlawful billboards around the city, said, “The signage is illegal because it violates the fire safety provisions on the Ontario Fire Code for obstructing windows required to be unobstructed under the code.” That means Juxta could face about one thousand dollars in fines right now, and that the number would increase when the new billboard bylaw that was passed by City Council on December 7, 2009, regulating and taxing outdoor advertising, comes into effect this April, said Tabello. Furthermore, the original Harry Potter display that adorned the property last summer was erected during the city workers’ strike, specifically to bypass normal licensing procedures.
But Patrick Little, executive producer of Juxta, says, “Why should I be fined for creating cultural jobs in the knowledge economy? Writers, designers, printers, scenic painters, set decorators, grips, actors, hair and makeup, wardrobe, projectionists and even a graffiti artist doing their own piece worked on those installations.” (The Toronto-based artists include Melissa Yang, who played the vampire, and also did everyone’s hair and makeup for their promotional day. Larry Saunders was the key scenic painter for the Daybreakers display, and Wen Xie was the ice sculptor for the Whiteout installation.)
Little also points out that they transformed the property from a “crack-house squat” into a respectable gateway attraction.
But it doesn’t look like Juxta will be inhabiting the property for much longer. An application for a demolition permit was filed in 2008, and an application to build a new property is currently working its way through the planning process. Soon, fake blood and huge billboards will likely be replaced by a five-storey mixed use development that includes storefronts, parking, offices, and residences. Little adds, “Unfortunately, it is now the visual artists, like the film workers before them, who are at risk of losing their jobs due to the misguided and narrow-minded priorities of the current administration which has embraced condo development as the holy grail of city building.”
It’s prime real estate that a whole bunch of people are waiting to sink their teeth into.
