What Québec Wants™

Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Don’t sell?

The news that Mr. Sub fired its advertising agency over a controversial TV spot surprised many in our industry.  According to Marketing Magazine, the sandwich chain was accused of promoting homophobia. The “not everyone likes surprises” advertising broke in late September with three humorous spots, two for TV and one online, based on the insight that customers know what to expect when they dine at Mr. Sub. It was the online execution, originally scheduled for a TV run next year, that became the subject of a letter/e-mail writing campaign by the CAW (Canadian Auto Workers). The ad showed a family sitting around the dining room table when the father cheerfully announces that he’s gay.

Marketing Magazine adds: After hearing complaints from some of the CAW’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members, the union began contacting other members last weekend advising them of the spot and recommending they contact Mr. Sub to express their displeasure, said Shannon Devine, a CAW communications director.

“In the last few days, the sandwich chain Mr. Sub has come out with a new commercial which is shocking (and completely ridiculous) in the way that it mocks the LGBT community,” wrote Devine in one e-mail. “This is offensive and we must let Mr. Sub know that making fun of our LGBT sisters and brothers and the very difficult and often painful coming out process is no way to sell submarine sandwiches.”

Dealing with homosexuality in advertising remains a delicate issue. Here’s an insightful view on the subject from Advertising Pawn:

Mainstream advertising has been much clumsier in its approach of the gay community. And the harsh backlash that surrounds odd-inspired or ill-advised attempts acts as a bitter reminder that gay advertising is still considered more-thorny-than-horny territory. This is not bad advertising. And most of the times, it isn’t intentionally homophobic advertising either; but advertising that tackles the gay issue from a straight vantage point.

In the same spirit with which adolescent boys might be prone to engage in homophobic verbal attacks to affirm their straight manliness; advertising often refer to gays to emphasize a contrast, an opposition. This is unfortunate but normal, since our culture places such a high value on masculinity-over-femininity ideal; and homosexuality is viewed as the ultimate betrayal of this unspoken rule.

This results in a series of – sometimes genuinely funny – gay-themed commercials that treat homosexuality either as a straight man’s nightmare, a mistake imputed to mismanaged testosterone, an uncomfortable misunderstanding, or just plain insecure fear (which is why the sound of a soap dropping on the floor of a public shower will usually be similar to one of a nuclear explosion). In the end, all of them end up selling a taboo more than the product itself.

Here are a few examples. You be the judge and decide if they should trigger a letter writing campaign that gets the agency fired.

Virgin Atlantic

 Motorola

 Stoker

 Clio

Hyundai

 Gay-friendly brands

This week in New York, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation hosted its inaugural Media Awards in Advertising. Recognizing advancements in the fair representation of the gay community in advertising, the award show celebrated the work of 10 brands that have made strides to increase the size, diversity and accuracy of LGBT-related images in advertising.

You can find out more about GLAAD's advertising media program here.

According to an article in Ad Age about the award show, 'Perhaps the most poignant moment of the evening came when Subaru CMO Tim Mahoney accepted his company's Corporate Responsibility Award. Subaru was the first national automaker to extend benefits to same-sex domestic partners. And for more than 15 years, it's been a respected example of brand building by a marketer that chose to tap a growing consumer niche despite obvious corporate hurdles and cultural taboos. "I remember thinking, I could get fired for this," Mr. Mahoney said of his decision to present gay-specific research findings to Subaru's execs back in the early '90s. The most common soundbite from focus groups at the time was, "All my friends who have Subarus are lesbians."

Quebeckers and same sex relationships

According to PMB 2009, 26.5% of Quebeckers 18+ strongly agree with the statement ‘I believe I should be supportive of same sex relationships” compared to 19% of Canadians in the ROC.

Perhaps more telling is this finding from a 2004 survey conducted by Léger Marketing. Asked the question ‘Would you be totally in favour, somewhat in favour, somewhat opposed or totally opposed to insults or homophobic name calling being as severely reprimanded as racist or anti-Semitic insults?’, 75% of Quebeckers were in favour compared to 58% of Canadians in the ROC.

The marketing of marketing in Quebec

via www.mastheadonline.com

Interesting article about the re-launch of marketing trade magazine AMPQ as MARKETING QC.

Editor in chief of Infopresse, Marie-Claude Ducas says that as Marketing QC’s competitor she welcomes the new title into the market. Infopresse is also printed 10 times a year with a paid circulation of 7,000. “There is a lot to cover and a lot of issues,” she says. “The industry only has something to gain from them being there. We can’t be sorry that a player like Marketing is interested in Quebec.”

Quebeckers and pornography

It had to happen eventually. This blog is about marketing in Québec so it’s to be expected that we would touch on an industry that’s thriving in the province. (Not to mention that the word pornography will likely drive the number of visits to our modest blog.)

Our interest in the topic was prompted by this TV spot for a German specialty TV channel posted on Infopresse's website.

We could not find much data on the consumption of pornography by Quebeckers and Canadians in the ROC. But we found this interesting article on the production of pornography in Québec in, of all places, the Christian Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt:

Montreal: One of the world's capitals in pornography production

Not only does Quebec have Canada's lowest birth and highest abortion rates, but it is also considered to be one of the global pornography industry's largest hubs, after Amsterdam and Los Angeles.

Montreal, named Canada's 'femme fatale' city for its moral laxity, is the online pornography capital of Canada, at least in terms of production.

Michael Plant, a Quebec City-based "adult entertainment" entrepreneur says that Montreal's pornographic boom is natural since Quebeckers have "open-minds" when it comes to performing sexual acts on camera.

"The girls are less shy about posing nude in front of a camera or having sex in front of the camera compared to girls from Ontario, for example," he says.

Montreal has been the longtime problem-child of Canada. Montreal is home to more thriving strip clubs, sex shops, swingers and escort services than any other province. In recent years, the local production of pornography movies has provided multi-million dollar business for the city.

So there you have it, our one and only pornographic post.

Quebeckers and excess bagging.

Metro announced today that it is introducing reusable produce bags in all of its stores across Quebec and Ontario. The reusable mesh bags will be available as an alternative to the rolls of plastic bags currently found throughout the produce section. Each set of four bags will be sold for $4.99.

It should be welcome news to Quebeckers who appear more concerned than Canadians in the ROC about excess wrapping and bagging. According to PMB 2009, 38% of Quebeckers agree strongly with the statement “I refuse excess bagging and wrapping when shopping” compared to 29% of Canadians in the ROC.

Refusing excess packaging is one thing. Paying more for environmentally friendly products is another. According to PMB 2009, Quebeckers are slightly less likely than Canadians in the ROC to agree with the statement “I’m willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products” (24.8% in Québec compared to 31.1% in the ROC).

L’alowine, the French and Quebeckers

There’s a delightful story by Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence, in last Saturday's New York Times, about how the French came to celebrate Halloween.

Here’s an excerpt:

There is a tendency among the French to welcome certain aspects of American life with immediate and uncritical enthusiasm: hamburgers, Jerry Lewis, baseball caps, elderly television series (“Starsky & Hutch” is still running on French TV), Westerns, Marlboro Lights, button-down shirts — these and much more besides have crossed the Atlantic to become firmly embedded in le lifestyle français.

The Celtic-by-way-of-America celebration of Halloween is one more example that has always stuck in my mind because it arrived in France about the same time that I did, 20 years ago.

I remember the moment well. I was passing the window of a shop that specialized in avant-garde underwear when my eye was caught by a small pumpkin, half-concealed behind the lacy thickets of a black brassiere. A hand-lettered sign tucked into the bra read, “N’oubliez pas l’alowine!” — as if one could ever forget Halloween when reminded of it in such an exotic fashion.

But there was a problem. In those unenlightened days, hardly anyone in France had the faintest idea of what alowine was.

Interest in Halloween is fading.

According to Halloween expert Jim Farrelly, Hallloween isn’t what it used to be. "I'm sure that kids will be instructed not to touch anybody as they go door-to-door and that hand-sanitizers will be used between stops. It's going to be a very clinical Halloween."

Demographics also play a role. In 2008, the number of children aged five to 14 sank to 3,807,039 — the lowest level since hitting 3,798,425 in 1990. For more on this, read this article from Canwest News Service.

Not surprisingly, spending on Halloween (in the U.S.) will likely drop this year. Consumers this year are expected to spend an average of $56.31 per person on Halloween, down from $66.54 in 2008, while total spending on the holiday is expected to reach $4.75 billion, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2009 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch.

For more data from this survey, click here.

Also, for more Canadian data on Halloween, have a look at Stats Can’s annual "Halloween by the numbers". You’ll learn about costume rental, pumpkin production, scary movies, coffins and caskets manufacturing, embalmers, candies, crime on Halloween night, and worshippers of Satan.

Quebeckers, ghosts and witches.

According to a survey conducted by Leger Marketing in 2001, 30.2% of Canadians believe in ghosts while only 20.9% of Quebeckers do so - the lowest level of all provinces. 15.2% of Canadians believe in witches. Almost one in four residents of B.C. (23.4%) do so while only 9% of Quebeckers do so – the lowest level of all provinces.

However, the same survey reveals that Quebeckers are more likely than Canadians in the rest of Canada to have attempted to communicate with the deceased.

Brand storytelling

Every brand tells a story. Some just tell a better story than others.

This post isn’t about marketing in Québec specifically. It’s about an amazing example of storytelling. Make that a 5 minutes plus story of the Johnnie Walker brand delivered in one take by Scottish actor Robert Carlisle.

Unique Naming for Liquor Brands | Branding Beer and Wine Products

via www.brandchannel.com

An interesting look at the naming of wine and beer brands in Canada. Learn about Dead Frog, Dirty Laundry and La fin du monde (The End of the World).

Quebeckers hand shaking and air kissing.

According to a recent survey by Harris Decima, 60% of Canadians have declined to shake hands out of concern for passing the flu along to someone else.

Quebeckers (76%) are more likely than Canadians in the ROC to have done so and they’re the least likely to be offended if someone declines to shake their hands out of concern about spreading H1N1 flu.

No data on what’s happening with the more sanitary habit of air kissing in Québec.

Olympic sponsorships

What marketers are looking for. What consumers expect.

Canadians expect a lasting impact via greater community involvement.

An interview (in French) on TFO's Panorama - you can view it online here.

For more on this, read our survey results here.

Course correction?

A follow-up to a recent post about the federal Liberals’ advertising in Québec.

The campaign was described by its creator as the first of several courses in a long meal. I may have missed the next course but it seems the impact of the first dish wasn’t what the chef expected. Here's one of the spots.

An Angus Reid Strategies opinion poll conducted from October 13 to 14 (roughly five weeks after the feast began) suggests that Ignatieff’s momentum is plummeting in Québec.

From the report:

For the Liberals, the situation is much tougher than it was at the start of the summer. The latest survey shows a drastic drop for Michael Ignatieff, particularly when compared with a poll that was conducted just days before he withdrew the party's support for the Tory minority government. The Grit leader is markedly seen as more arrogant and inefficient than he was two months ago.

While there were of course a few unforeseen developments in Québec since this campaign started (Denis Coderre’s resignation as Québec lieutenant wasn’t on the menu), the carefully planned meal might now require some improvisation or at least a careful look at some of the ingredients used.