Ice Ice Baby

Just when you thought Canadians didn't have a sense of humour, Molson Coors Canada comes up with a delightful marketing campaign to shill Coors Light in British Columbia, which includes this billboard:

Not being a native Canadian myself, at first I just assumed that the billboard was referring to the difference in the winter climate in Toronto vis-à-vis Vancouver. My understanding is that winters in Vancouver are typically mild, and in Toronto are Seasonal Affective Disorder writ large (get excited!!).

This, of course, is not the joke being made here. There is a running joke among Torontonians, that the inhabitants of the 416 area code consider their town to be the "center of the universe." From what I can tell, this is true; I've heard this phrase fairly often over the last couple of months. But since Canadians don't have much in the way of a sense of irony, it comes across as arrogant and elitist. Truly, I think most Torontonians find this narcissistic attitude silly and amusing. Toronto is, in addition to the largest city in Canada, the most ethnically diverse city in Canada (maybe North America; I have to check the numbers on that). So native or adoptive Torontonians can generally eschew the sense of superiority that is generally attributed to them. But it also seems to be an "I can make fun of my own mother because she's my mother" kind of situation, and "Katie bar the door if anyone else makes fun of her." The billboards (there are about 30 of them across BC) have caused quite a bit of uproar in Toronto. People are actually quite offended, it seems. Coors Light has apologized profusely, and has agreed to take down the billboards.

And with them goes the funniest thing I've seen in Canada so far this summer. So much for a sense of humour. Though, I wonder if it might not be a generational thing. CTV does a poll each day called "Talk Back Toronto," where they ask people to weigh in on current issues. In answer to the question, "Was the Coors Light billboard ad offensive?," 75% of folks that called in on the phone said "Yes." Only about 30% of respondents on the Internet said "Yes." Now, there are some serious statistical issues with the (completely unscientific) poll, but it's still an interesting snapshot.

One thing I know for sure: I will not be purchasing or consuming any Coors Light from here on out.*

*This has less to do with the billboard, and more to do with the fact that Coors Light tastes awful.