It's not often that Canadians get hype
commercials of their own for big simulcast events such as the Academy Awards,
but that will be the case March 7 when Unilever brand Becel debuts its short
film, The Heart, during the broadcast.
The film was directed by Canadian actor and director Sarah Polley (Away from
Her) and produced in association with BravoFACT and Film Farm Productions, with
media handled by PHD in Toronto. Two minutes in length, The Heart will compose
the entirety of a commercial break during the broadcast.
Rather than promote Becel directly with branding and product placement, the film
is meant to inspire women to care for their hearts, which is the message behind
the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Becel-sponsored "Heart Truth" campaign, says
Joanna Janisse, account director at PHD, a sentiment that Margaret McKellar,
brand building manager, Becel, explains further.
"Our brand has always been about heart health, and it's really important to us
to drive awareness around the issue," she tells MiC. "So our campaign this year
was much more about getting women engaged and to get them to understand that
they need make themselves a priority in terms of hearth health. So we centred
our campaign on a short film, using the power of film and storytelling to really
drive emotional engagement and to get women to stop and start thinking about
themselves first."
The "Heart Truth" campaign - on which the film is based - will be promoted in
the Oscars pre-show by eTalk Daily host Tanya Kim, who will wear a red dress (a
signature of the campaign) designed by Canadian designer Andy Th" Ahn. The dress
will be woven into the show with a "making of" vignette that follows Th" Ahn as
he designs the dress and speaks of his inspiration behind it.
A separate execution was created for Quebec, with an entirely different film
commissioned and directed by Pascale Bussi"res, that will air during
French-language cinematic awards show Les Jutra.
The English-language film and eTalk special are currently being promoted by CTV
and will continue to be promoted on the channel after the Oscars with an ad,
created by Toronto-based Capital C, that drives viewers to the Love your Heart
Facebook page ($1 will be donated to the Heart and Stroke foundation for every
new fan added to the page). A media campaign using the film will start directly
after the Academy Awards broadcast including placement in the digital pre-show
at Cineplex theatres and an online buy that includes video ad unit placements on
YouTube, VideoEgg, CTV pre-roll and Facebook.
The "Heart Truth" campaign is also being promoted in an 11-month advertorial
series with Canadian Living Magazine, in which two women are given heart-health
makeovers and followed over the campaign period.
Source: Media in Canada, 02/25/2010
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