To launch this year’s Terry Fox Run campaign, the Terry Fox Foundation drew inspiration from novelist and artist Douglas Coupland, who once wrote of the eponymous athlete: “Before there was e-mail, there was simply mail, and Terry Fox probably received more mail than any Canadian in history.”

The Foundation and partner agency No Fixed Address are aiming to drive that point home with “#DearTerry,” the launch campaign for its 43rd annual run, which aims to show how even decades after the athlete took the first steps in what would become an iconic run and enduring national tradition, “people are continually inspired by Terry,” says Denise Dias, VP of marketing and communications for the foundation.

“In 1980, Terry really touched the nerve of the nation and affected so many people, who then felt compelled to write in letters, messages, drawings. We still see all of that today in mail, emails and social,” she explains. “When people actually take the time to put pen to paper and write something and mail it, they’re truly passionate about that. So we decided to harness the power of that wave of support. We wanted to bring that vibe forward from 1980 into 2023, and modernize the practice, bring it into the digital age and create some fun social campaigns around it.”

By harnessing digital mediums and designing an original font developed from the average handwriting of the many letters sent to Terry and the Fox Family since his iconic moment, the goal is to grow awareness of the brand beyond the annual event in September and to “make it really pervasive in culture and peoples’ hearts and minds,” Dias says.

The campaign is the next step in a process that began last year, the first where the foundation started to use its t-shirt as a marketing tool that could “engage celebrities across fashion, film, music and sports.” This year, it looked to take that a step further, and enlisted Ryan Reynolds to kick off the campaign with a pre-sale of the T-shirt, which features real letters from Canadians past and present.

More than 28,000 shirts have been sold, raising nearly $1 million in support of cancer research.

“Getting Ryan Reynolds involved has taken it to another level and been very exciting for us,” Dias says. “I’ve worked with a lot of celebrities in my career, on a lot of partnerships and launches. Ryan, when he supports something, is all in. And Terry Fox is something that really resonates for him.”

Ultimately, the goal is to create breakthrough for the Foundation and help it to establish Terry Fox “at the forefront of culture, social media and trends, so that he continues to be as meaningful and relevant today as he was in 1980,” she adds.

“Our goal is to put Terry front and centre, year round. The run will always be the run – it’s a classic Canadian tradition and an amazing moment. But we’re looking for ways to make Terry a feeling year round, and to inspire people to fundraise for cancer research.”

The campaign includes OOH provided nationally by Lamar, Pattison and Streetseen, owned and paid social, traditional media and earned influencer outreach, all of which drives to its campaign landing page where Canadians are encouraged to share their #DearTerry messages and photos online.