A new ad campaign by the Niagara Parks Commission has Toronto media buzzing. As part of a reported $300,000 ad blitz, the commission created a collection of ads airing on CP24 and CTV, as well as on the commission website, that paint Canada’s largest city in traffic-infested, crowded, stress-filled light. The reaction so far today include pieces in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and a segment on CBC’s Metro Morning. Here’s a selection of how Toronto took to Niagara’s needling.

“The Niagara they show. The Niagara we know.” @ Toronto Star :

We can diss you too, Niagara. … Any place where a girl can come back from a bachelorette weekend having signed someone’s butt and enjoyed the cliché awesomeness of a heart-shaped Jacuzzi shouldn’t be taking jabs.

“I don’t even need to diss Niagara,” said Chris Slawson, 28. “Have you even been there?!” The Toronto-bred King West dweller couldn’t leave it there though.

“What’s tackier? Artistic graffiti and street murals or Boston Pizza across from Louis Tussaud’s wax museum mixed with Planet Hollywood and a haunted house?”

“Smearing Toronto: A bad case of Falls advertising” @ The Globe and Mail

Acting mayor Joe Pantalone, a board member of Tourism Toronto, wondered why the parks commission would resort to “an unnecessary cheap shot” when the city has traditionally been an ally in promoting Ontario to the world.

“Whenever we advertise Toronto internationally and nationally, we always say, ‘Come to Toronto and go to Niagara Falls,’” Mr. Pantalone said. “I would hope that they realize that a mistake has been made … and simply pull those ads and come up with something more constructive.”

“Niagara tourism beats up on Toronto” @ blogTO

I suppose all of these things do happen in Toronto (graffiti, stolen bikes, etc), but I’ve never been so stressed-out by life here that I just had to escape. And certainly not to one of the tackiest towns in North America.

Polar bears are the world’s largest land-based carnivores. They are also very cute. Both are good reasons to make them the centre of the Toronto Zoo’s summer ad campaign.

Polar bears are the world’s largest land-based carnivores. They are also very cute. Both are good reasons to make them the centre of the Toronto Zoo’s summer ad campaign.

The white and cuddly meat-eaters have long been popular attractions at the zoo, but their 10-acre enclosure called Tundra Trek had been under renovation until last November. With renovations now complete, agency of record Lowe Roche was tasked with showing potential visitors that the bears were ready to be seen again. Or not, as the case may be.

Ad creative focuses on the bears’ ability to hide in their snowy native environment. Animated television/online and print executions show a white field with only the bears’ black eyes and noses visible.

Their dialogue plays off their hidden bodies. “Does this fur make me look fat?” one asks.

The spot closes with the super: “The Polar Bears. Be sure to see them.”

“It’s about getting Toronto families excited,” said Stephanie Nerlich, agency president. “It could certainly go wider than the city, but we focus on Toronto families and school groups and the stay-cation aspects of summer.”

Lowe Roche recently hired Steph Mackie and Mark Biernacki as creative directors, but the Zoo campaign was in the works before they joined and is largely the product of Sean Ohlenkamp and Rob Sturch.

The agency tapped Aardman Animations in the U.K. to animate the video ads.

Interactive online elements leveraging the polar bears are set to roll out over the coming weeks.

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.”