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October 2004 - Strategy Magazine
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The best all time favourite Canadian ads ever!
Folks got mighty nostalgic when asked to pick the Canadian spot that remains their preferred. Talk of childhood memories got these top ad vets, well, teary-eyed. Sigh. Here are their picks...(excuse me a second. Sniffle.)...and why.

by Natalia Williams
page 50

Canadian Tire A Bike Story

"Even describing this commercial I get choked up. I've been that kid. It's really a heartfelt commercial. They could run that commercial today and it would stomp on the crap they're doing now."

Marc Stoiber, ECD, Grey Worldwide, Vancouver

"This ad connects Canadian Tire to the fabric of Canadian

childhood dreams. As a kid growing up in Windsor, I used the catalogue

to decide on my gifts - and this spot is brilliantly produced and acted. Canadian Tire recognized its power when they brought it back for

their 75th anniversary."

David Strickland, SVP marketing, Zellers, Toronto

Mr. Christie you make good cookies

"It seems a little quaint and naïve now 25 years later, but I remember a teacher leading kids on a school trip and they were all connected by a rope. And as they sat they all had cookies and one of the kids looked up and said: "Mr. Christie, you make good cookies." So many ads are shouting for attention today and not being true to the brand character. That's a campaign that really built the brand because it gave its soul and its DNA. And as a concept it has such legs that it's carried the brand for over 20 years."

Noel O'Dea, president, Target Marketing, St. John's, Nfld.

Who are the brains behind the indelible ads?

Bike Story:

Agency: Doner Schur Peppler

Creative: John De Cerchio, Tim Teegarden

Director: Bill Irish, The Partners' Film Company

When: 1989

Mr. Christie:

Agency: McCann-Erickson

Creative: Stu Eaton

When: circa 1971

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