For the second time in 25 years, a lone determine takes to the stage, an outsized maple leaf flag rippling on a display screen behind him as he approaches the microphone.
His hair is maybe slightly greyer however the message stays the identical: Canada is not going to cower to the US.
“They mistake our modesty for meekness, our kindness for consent, our nation for one more star on their flag and our love of a scorching tacky poutine with their love of a scorching tacky Putin,” says the person.
“That is the birthplace of peanut butter and ketchup chips and yoga pants. It’s the land of Common Well being Care and the bench-clearing brawl, of innovation and optimism and gettin’ er completed….
“Are we good? No. However we aren’t the 51st something.”
Replete with orchestral swells and chest-thumping patriotism, is a remake of the well-known 2000 advert for Molson Canadian beer.
It options an more and more enthusiastic “Joe Canadian” working his means by way of a listing of nationwide stereotypes, passing from diffidence to defiance earlier than the unique’s climactic cry: “Canada is the second largest landmass! The primary nation of hockey! And the perfect a part of North America! My identify is Joe! And I’m Canadian!”
When it first got here out, the spot struck a nerve and entered the pantheon of Canadian fashionable tradition.
And it has seen a revival since Donald Trump beginning threatening Canada’s sovereignty. The US president’s suggestion that the nation would possibly turn into the 51st US state has provoked a wave of patriotic fervour .
On Wednesday, followers acquired a long-anticipated replace.
Jeff Douglas, the video’s star, stated the brand new model was produced by an nameless collective of Canadian creatives and promoting professionals.
“These are professionals who usually are rivals, coming collectively, providing what they’ve, for a typical purpose … No logos, no manufacturers … the shopper for this one is Canada.”
The brand new video cycles by way of pictures of well-known Canadians, together with Terry Fox and Gordon Lightfoot, and the Canadian response to disaster.
“We’re the primary to unite within the disaster, the primary to construct bridges – not partitions – and the primary to stand on guard for thee,” Douglas says within the clip, a reference to Canada’s nationwide anthem.
For Douglas, years between the 2 movies have seen reflection on the character of patriotism and the unifying threads of Canada’s shared – and sometimes darkish – previous.
“Our historical past, as we have been taught, was put collectively so we might be ok with ourselves and that we’re a drive for good on this planet. I nonetheless assume we’re a drive for good on this world. However definitely, the previous 25 years have revealed how we haven’t at all times completed good issues. We’ve completed some actually dangerous issues,” he instructed the Guardian.
After Trump introduced 25% taxes on Canadian items earlier this week, Canada has responded with disbelief, outage and defiance.
With the brand new video, Douglas says the job was easy: “We humbly hope it might be one thing that may assist increase Canadian spirits.”
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