Thought a thread to discuss commercials unique to Canada would be a good idea. Hope that's alright.

The worst of the worst has gotta be Ted and Gloria, the Canadian Tire couple who were recently axed. I saw "Ted" in Toronto one day and had to restrain myself from kicking him in the junk.

Then there's the Canadian Legal Will Kit. Commercials so bad that it's a waste of the tape they were recorded on. Remember seeing the male actor's mouth move along as the woman read her cue card?

And my most recent annoyance on Canadian commercials...the cheese lady who shrieks "Can't get your kids to leave home? Stop cooking with cheese." She scares me.

Anyone else have good/bad/ugly Canadian commercials?

I kinda liked the Canadian Tire couple, but I think that I am quite possibly the only person in Canada that can actually say that. Heh.

Anyways, if we want to talk about memorable Canadian commercials, I gotta mention Joe Canadian and his great "I. AM. CANADIAN!" rant! I am such a sucker for marketing, because I think that beer tastes like ass, yet that commerical compelled me to buy some.

And speaking of beer commercials, I was rather fond of the Alexander Keith's "spilly-talker" Scottish guy ones....too bad he turned pedophile and they fired him!

I hate the Tim Hortons one with the old retired couple and the young guys starting out at opposite ends of the country, vowing to stop at every Tims from sea to shining sea. Lammmmme!!!!

Also, I really wish they would make some new Historical Vingette commericals, because I have been able to recite the old ones from memory for far, far too long now. Especially the incredibly badly dubbed French ones. Ohhhhhhhhh lordy!

Ooh, Canadian commercials. One of my faves has to be the beer commercial (can't remember which, and Google couldn't enlighten me) that featured Tom Cavanagh of "Ed" fame proclaiming about American beer: "If I wanted water, I'd ASK for water".

Also, I hated the Canadian Tire guy, and I laughed and laughed the day I saw the Macleans article that said everyone except middle-aged Canadian men hated this guy.

Also, I love love love the beer commercial (Molson Canadian, I think) with the song which accompanies all of the typical beer-commercial images. You know, with the "red maple leaves with water that drips off of them in slow motion!" and "hey look, it's a beer maker's....face".

Are those "Mattress, Mattress, Mattress! The Mattress Warehouse" commercials Canadian? If so, I am revoking my citizenship.

Also, for the Edmontonians, and I apologize in advance for this: "Only-at-City-For- on the ST. ALBERT TRAiiiiiiL.
I don't know if my punctuation helps, but that's how she says it. Fast-fast-fast-fast, and then drags it out on the Traiiiiiil. Ugh! What's this lady's name, anyone? I know that my junior high buddy's dad was a car salesman and he couldn't stop talking about how annoying that woman was in real life too. It's been years and she's still going, jumping around inside phone booths filled with flying money, screaming about NO MONEY DOWN, and generally making a fool out of herself with her bright lipstick and horrible bleach jobs. I think last I saw her, she was on the screen with some other dude, possibly Pat Healy, and they had switched around their voices so that when she spoke, his came out. How very clever.

Also, give it up for United Furniture Warehouse, Brick (HURRY IN NOW! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE FOR THE TUESDAY SALE BEFORE THE WEDNESDAY SALE STARTS!")

Anyone remember that ooooold Humpty's commercial where the kid acted mentally deficient? I just remember the line, "Humpty, Humpty, wait up!"

I used to love the Canadian Tire Christmas commercials. "Give like Santa...save like Scrooge!" I don't think I realized how much I liked them until they didn't show them anymore.

I also loved the Smarties commercials with the jingle, "when you eat your smarties, do you eat the red ones last?" Now that's the only way I eat them.

Re: United Furniture Warehouse...I liked the jingle more when it was "United <buy and sell> Furniture Warehouse...<bomp bomp>." So now the new(er) version just bugs more. My roomies and I just add it in.

ETA: The House Hippo PSA!* My friends and I loved this! I had no idea it was Canadian (but apparently other countries have used it as well) until I went to look it up! I was in university when it was first shown and we were all watching t.v. (I hope we were drunk or something), saw the cute hippos and all wanted one! It was all about the "Hidden World of the House Hippo," basically mini hippos that slept in your slippers and defended your property...too cute! Then of course we saw that it was for The Concerned Children's Advertisers and felt like complete idiots.

*I couldn't find the Canadian version, but the U.K. version is very similar.

Joe Canadian horked me off! I couldn't believe a beer company had co-opted our national identity to sell a beverage.

Aw, I like the scary cheese lady. Especially the one where she couldn't even deliver the line without laughing and they kept it. But then, I'm too young to remember the 'Where's the Beef?!?' lady, so I don't have scarring associations.

I hate all the Tim Horton's commercials. They're either trying to manipulate you into getting all nostalgic, or they're unbearably stupid. The pink living room comes to mind. And while I'm on the subject, I just have to ask - Hot Smoothee? Seriously? Honestly, it sounds like something I'd puke up.

I loved the House Hippo commercials.

Are the 'It's Patrick, he took out life insurance!' commercials Canadian, or was everyone subjected to that?

Posted in another thread: Hate, hate, hate the MTV Canada ads.
Glad to see the scary Canadian Tire ad people go - can they take the Body Break couple with them?

Like the Cheese lady - makes me laugh every time.
Also like the Tim Horton's ads - I know, I'm weird!

Just adding in my two cents about the Canadian Tire couple. On one occasion a couple of years ago we were watching Hockey Night in Canada and during a CT commercial someone casually commented to me that they "probably had a secret life where they were devout sadomasochists." Since then whenever I've seen one of their commercials I need a brain cleansing.

I'm generally not a fan of Tim Horton's commercials except for the one where the guy is trying to get through customs and the guard won't let him back into Canada until he says, "Rrrroll up the rim to win."

I really miss the old CBC animated vignettes like the Log-driver or Never Turn Your Back on a Falling Tree. Does anyone remember the one about the fort where the walls were constructed too narrow for the cannons? I think its a fort somewhere in Manitoba and my inability to remember the name has driven me crazy for a year now.

I'm with you, especially the giant spoon one. Rick Mercer did a great parody of it a few weeks back, I'll try to find the clip on the website.


They've been on forever, haven't they? Seems like it. Keep fit, and have fun! So cheesy.

*nostalgic sigh* Me too. The Log Driver's Waltz. I have that song on my computer, it brings back all sorts of childhood memories!

Also, while most of the Tim Horton's commercials bug me, I admit to loving the spoon one and the "It's... zesty" commercial.

Confirm a rumor for me -- I"ve heard that that commercial premiered during the commercial break that followed Robin Williams doing "Blame Canada" in the Oscar ceremony for whatever year that was. Is this true?

Canadian Legal Will Kits. Nuff said.

Then the jingle that makes me want to ram a fork into my brain...."Sleep Country Canada. Why buy a mattress, anywhere else?"

This may be a Toronto-centric commercial but "Who's better than Bad Boy?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooobody!"

As someone who works at a Tim Horton's... stay away from them. I've seen what the undiluted flavours do to cups and, well, Coke has nothing on them. But they don't taste too bad, really. Well at least the orange one. It's like drinking a creamsicle!

Also all the Tim's commercials suck and are totally unrealistic.

consterno - Cars cost less in Wetaskawin! Not quite as bad as City Ford chick, but once it's stuck in your head it stays there.

They have that same jingle in the States; they just replace "Canada" with "U-S-A".

I cannot believe I didn't think of that one! It's totally cheesetastic, right down to the little bouncing red ball that leads you in the jingle.

A couple of years ago during the audition rounds for Canadian Idol, one of the guys actually did the Log Driver song. It was awesome.

<beat>

"No thanks!"

And the annoying one from much of the '80s and '90s in Winnipeg. The older guy in the cowboy hat yelling "Come on down" to his furniture store. Can't for the life of me remember which one it was though. Or if they're still on. I moved in '91 and I don't remember seeing them when I was in Brandon for university.

One thing I love about time shifting is that everyonce in a while I get to catch the MTS bisons.

Worst. Commercial. Ever. I want to slap the guy every time this comes on. They had the really ridiculous ones last summer where they were asking people on Bloor Street to guess how much they would pay for certain pieces of furniture. Bite me, Bad Boy.

I don't know what it is about furniture stores... Leon's also has terrible ads, although they seemed to have toned down in recent years.

I mentioned in another thread but the Dentyne Frostbites really doesn't make me want to buy their product. It's the one with a guy and a girl in the back of a cab, and he eats some mints and freezes. Then, his head falls off on the girl's lap, and she starts screaming bloody murder, and so does the cabbie. Ugh.

I usually enjoy Tim Horton's ads but I concur on the horror that was the pink smoothie ad. That looked so disgusting.

Who finds Frank and Gordon (Bell) ANNOYING? I didn't really like the retro video game commercials Bell had before the Olympics either

No I kinda like them too. Something about them, especially the woman. I also love how everyone that lives around them are idiots. "No Bob, you wouldn't want to do it with that no name chainsaw, use my Canadian Tire rechargable one, you doofus!"
The products (I find) are also so random and useless. Like the products you find on the sale table a week after Christmas at the Bay.


Does Tim Hortons really need to advertise? Really?

And I'm not sure if this is a Canadian commercial or not, but the Rogers one where they are advertising mp3 phones and they are breakdancing/running to some bridge, and it turns out they are on the wrong side. I HATE that commercial! Always on CTV during The Daily Show. The song is SO annoying.

Hey! I'm from Winnipeg and that was Nick Hill of Kern-Hill Furniture Co-Op. Nick died a couple of years ago and the "Number One" son moved the store out of the North End. Yeah, he was pretty cheesetastic, but I kinda miss him.

I love some of the other Rogers mp3 phones commercials. Especially the one with the guy coming out of the metro and starting to yell, "Merci! Thank Yuu!" "Merci toutlemonde! Mercithankyuu!"

I don't know why, but the accent really makes me want to buy a cell phone, as long as he comes with it.

But what I'm not sure is if he's in all of them. Like the one where a guy is asked for a light and starts holding it in the air? I think it's the same guy. But does that mean he's also the same as the one moonwalking through a blizzard?

Can someone help me? I would really appreciate it!

While I was visiting Canada, I saw this commercial (it was just last week, so it was pretty recent.) It was some sort of car ad. There were three goth/emo guys, and for some reason they needed a ride from an older man (if I remember correctly.) At the end it shows them smiling and happy. Can anyone tell me what this was a commercial for?

It's for the KIA sportswagon-type car.

Are those ads only in Canada? It's the second one with the Cajun guy. But they do seem to be having fun. It's the only SUV-like commercial that doesn't turn my stomach.



OK, now I'm a little depressed. He was annoying, but I didn't wish him harm. And everyone knew who your were talking about when you mentioned him.

Ah, thanks kloweyc, that's a big help!! I'm pretty sure they're only in Canada. I've never seen them here in the states, but I saw them around ten times when I was in Canada. I could be wrong, though.

Now, if only I could find somewhere to download it from. The website wasn't any help, unfortunately. I thought the ad was cute.

A woman is talking to her daughter and son -in-law about Empire flooring, and the daughter says, "We should get some, honey". He wips out his little cell phone and we are forced to hear the little jingle

Just call -800-988-two-three-hundred Empire!

Or whatever the number is. So annoying!

Leon's actually tried to look dignified and classy a year or two back with some gimmick called "Integrity Pricing". When that didn't sell well, they went back to annoying jokes.

I kind of liked the Leon's holiday commercials with the old couple. "Get your leg outta my yam!"

Someone upthread mentioned The Brick's ads. I love watching the people scurry around in the background behind the overdone graphics on the screen. They are sprinting through the store like ants in an ant farm. Why are they in such a hurry? The Brick will have another sale in 5 minutes anyway. At the end of February, they actually had commercials on that said "Boxing Day Sale Extended". Good God, Boxing "Week" was overdone enough.

I'm sorry, Kloweyc, I didn't mean to depress you! And, oddly enough when it comes to the timing of things, there was an "In Memoriam" for Nick Hill in the Winnipeg Free Press the day after I posted... Hmmm...

Dial 1 866 WOW DEAL! and get away for less.

Everytime my boss wants me to book him a flight, I sing it to him. He hates it, and I do too, but it annoys him so much it almost makes me love it.

I have to say I just hate the "stop cooking with cheese!" ads. I don't know if it's the dour, humorless parents, the sterile (to me) 70's decor, or the rude, obnoxious "children", but I just find them so depressing.

Even worse, to me, was a commercial they ran last year that featured a female "Talk Show Host" screeching about the subject of the day, which appeared to be "How to Clean your Tiles." (I think it was a Tilex commercial.) Her voice alone would peel the mold off grout. I used to hit the Mute button the second the ad came on.

I have to admit I find the Goth/Cajun ad sweet. I love the way the kids start out too cool to crack a smile, and end up laughing and hooting, unable to maintain their angry facades. It's infectious, too - the last time it was on, I heard my husband absently going, "Ya-HOO" to himself. (Or is it "Yee-ha"?) I also love the music.

Did anyone catch the Rick Mercer spoof last night of the Lakota commercials? It was extremely funny.

I never fail to get irritated by this commercial for windshield wipers. I wish I could remember what company is is for (Canadian Tire? Home Hardware? I'm so blinded by irk I don't pay enough attention).

Some guy drives up to a house, and he and his family get out of the car. The homeowner smugly points out the inferiority of the man's wipers and more or less implies that he was endangering his family to drive in such a deathtrap.

I like the realism, though, when he shows the driver his superior, flexible wipers and the driver looks at him like, "I just drove through the snow to get to your stupid potluck dinner, and you're lecturing me about my wipers? Asshole."

That sounds like a Ted the know-it-all neighbour from Canadian Tire to me.

I am really torn on the Chinese Tim Horton's commercial where an elderly Chinese man walks into a skate rink with a couple of coffees to watch his grandson play. Then there is a flashback sequence to when he wouldn't let his son play hockey and he tells his son to work harder, typical Chinese parent things. Then back to the present, the elderly man sits with his now grownup son, and tells him that his grandson is better than him. The son asks how would his father know. His father reveals that he used to come watch since, and produces his picture. Then when Tommy (the grandson) scores, the grandfather screams "Tommy, go!" and he proudly tells everyone "My grandson!" Finally, the grandfather goes, "Now give me my picture back".

Every time I tear up at the end and I'm not sure if it's because it's sort of touching with the "my grandson" part, or because it's so outrageously hilarious and exagerated.

Don't forget "Chirstmas in July" and "Midnight Madness!" I mean, who needs a cofee table THAT BAD? The Brick is famous for that - every single commercial is so urgent and the SALE IS ENDING SOON! (... because the next sale is starting right after...)

I'll have to disagree with you on the people milling about though. I can't stand when they show those wide shots of the Brick's doors opening and a crowd of people rushing in and people walking around through the furniture. None of them look relaxed or like they're actually buying the furniture. It reminds me of last-minute Christmas shopping, actually, when people in the mall are rushing past you and not putting any thought into their shopping. I also hate it when they show the crowd and all of them are still wearing their jackets and haven't bothered to take off their hats or something. Usually, when I furniture shop, I spend a bit of time in the store. I end up taking my jacket off and carrying it. DAMN YOU BRICK! DAMN YOU AND YOUR MIDNIGHT MADNESS AND YOUR CROWDS OF FAKE SHOPPERS!

Umm... Wow. I didn't think a Brick commercial would strike such a chord with me! I guess you learn something new about yourself everyday, eh?

Edmonton-area folks who watched Channel 5 (the TV guide channel), this may ring a bell:

"Four-two-six, Five-Oh, Five-Oh! If you're hungry caaaaall the Lydo. FREEEEEEE DELIVERY!"

I haven't seen that ad in probably seven years and yet it still comes to mind whenever I am trying to find a place to order in from.

Okay, I grew up in central Alberta, but in the middle of nowhere, so the only TV we could pick up was on our aerial. It was all Edmonton channels. So yes, the Lydo (Lido?) commercial totally rings a bell. Man, I don't even know how long it's been, but yeah, I can suddenly hear that jingle.

I'm pretty sure this is a Canadian-only commercial, so I'll mention it here -- the Robin Hood Flour commercials with the two big-eyed (animated) kids that air on Food Network are slowly growing on me. I think it's the expression on the boy's face when he drops his ... cookie? Muffin? It just kills me, every time. I want to give him a hug.

The telus ads amuse me to no end.

The canadian tire dude: so glad you're gone. They took their time killing that campaign.

And someone just had to bring up the cars cost less in wetaskiwin ad. 12 years of careful deprogramming gone in a flash!

Bell Beavers -- I hate those suckers!!

Agree that CITYFORD commercials suck, but they have a great service department. NO, I don't work for them, but they have always done right by the beast.

FYI on the Timmy's Hockey Dad/Granda, saw on CTV news the other day, that the actor lives in Richmond, and his son plays hockey and was really sick a while back.

DQ, Flamethrower Burger ads, come on guys, they ain't that hot.

Pizza 73, comeon bring back the four pack!!!

Oh, and how can I forget Wayne Gretsky shilling for FORD! I put off buying a new one because he was on tv selling that month. I detest, abhor, loathe, Wayne...

Where did those go? I haven't seen them in ages. I loved those green reptile things running in slo-mo and the spotted pigs(?).

Is it just me or are the MTS bison ads much less amusing than they used to be?

I won't miss the smug Canadian Tire guy. I can't believe the viewers tolerated him for ten years. I hated him from the get-go. I liked the woman just fine, though.

Hee! Seriously?

I'm pretty sure that I saw "Johnny" from Polka Dot Door fame on a commercial for Rona.

Aaand, there was a great commercial parody for CBC's Hockeyville during tonight's Rick Mercer Report, it was called Cribbage Village. Featuring guest judges the former Canadian Tire guy, plus Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. Here's the link - click on the Cribbage Village logo, hilarious!

This is my favourite commercial, like, EVER. The goth in the front seat? After he's all smiling and happy? HOT. My sister thinks I'm weird...

Speaking of my sister, she and I always used to giggle at the Canadian Tire ads where "Ted" would never let his neighbour borrow his crap and always made him buy his own. Gods I hated him.

My mom (geez I'm really getting my whole family into this, aren't I?) hates that commercial for...umm....some kind of breath mint type thing where there's a body in the morgue with the bimbo wife whose come to ID the body. Somehow the mint thingy gets into Dead Guy's mouth and he starts talking...saying stuff about how his wife spent all his moneybut she pre-chewed his food for him...blech....

I, on the other hand, loved the Dentyne Frostbite head-falling-off commercial. I thought it was hilarious. Eh, I'm weird.

I'm with Mom. That commercial creeps me out, plus the over-acting bimbo Anna Nicole Smith type is annoying (probably meant to be that way, but still.)

Rick Mercer did a great commercial parody last week called Swiffer Diesel, basically an overpowered Swiffer that looked like a lawnmower. Red Green would be proud.

Oh the Telus ads, I hate them so much. The song always gets stuck in your head, or some idiot that you work with SINGS them ad nauseum to drive you crazy, and you have nightmares where you're strangled with a chameleon's tail while being held down by a grinning hippopotamus, and then pigs eat your toes and birds make nests with your hair.

Or it could just be me.

Yes, MorningAngel noted it first...Dentyne Frostbites. Yep, I'm going to buy a product that, when I chew it, will freeze my head, thereby snapping it off my neck, killing me. What were the writers (not) thinking?

But I have to say...after these dumb Canadian Tire adverts, I want the Canadian Tire guy back! If I see that woman falling through the deck chair one more time, and the 'doghouses' signs (and all the other ones) falling from the sky, I will scream.

Perhaps we should give the new Canadian Tire writers some Dentyne Frostbites.

The sound the signs make sets my teeth on edge.

Ugh. Canadian Tire dude. I always wanted one of his "oh, whatcha got there, ted?' neighbors to just smack him.

"why, it's my new 47 in one washing tool. Shampoo the cat! varnish the dog, it's handy around the house, and for an extra 29.99 only at canadian tire, get the rechargable electroshock therapy attachment!"

Where did he keep all those gadgets anyway? I mean, dude, really.

Those commercials were great for me, because I always knew what to get my dad for Xmas, father's day, etc. because of them. See, Dad LOVES gadety things - and the more buttons and beeping things and flashing lights the better - but he doesn't really know how to USE them. We had vice grips instead of taps for 2 years, just as a minor example. Having inherited his lack of tool skills, I usually have no idea what to buy him for presents, so those damn Canadian tire commercials were lifesavers! They were semi- practical, and generally the cheaper ones didn't have sharp edges, so that was good!

I second (or third, whatever) the love for the telus ads....those bunny ones totally slay me, and if I wasn't already a telus customer, I would become one just because of those ads. Yes, marketers, you do work.

The Rickard's red commercials I liked the first one. (i still want to know what song was though) The new one is a bit over the top for me.

I also love the kia goth commercial.

Me too! And, "It's not the mattress...."

I loved Futureshop's Devo-like Christmas ad with the two dorky salesguys shooting lasers out of their butts and eyes.