In its latest campaign, Pepsi is celebrating Quebec, as well as the 90th anniversary of the launch of its first bottling plant outside of the U.S., located in Montreal.
The campaign, “Ici, Quand on aime, on aime,” uses romance to symbolize Québécois passion and includes Quebec pop culture references to La Guerre Des Tuques, Chambres en Ville, and WWE superstar Kevin Owens. To celebrate the milestone the beverage maker is also highlighting the province’s unique passion through partnerships, events, social content, and giveaways.
“We can’t talk about Pepsi in Canada without talking about Quebec. Our story started in Quebec and continues to evolve today,” says Reid Black, senior director at PepsiCo Canada, adding that it prides itself on “creating campaigns in Quebec for the Quebec consumer.”
Pepsi has deep roots in the province, and was among the first major multinational companies to commit to Quebec-only advertising, 40 years ago, with then-agency partner J. Walter Thompson. In the ’80s, Pepsi partnered with popular actor, comedian and director, Claude Meunier for a series of TV spots that resonated extremely well with Quebecers, and which proved so successful that the beverage still maintains a sizeable market share over rival Coca-Cola.
As Black tells strategy, Pepsi is beloved in Quebec for consistently reinventing itself and moving at the speed of culture. And last year, Pepsi got a new look, which Black says was a springboard for its anniversary celebrations in Quebec.
The campaign will be visible on commemorative cans, TV, digital, and outdoor throughout the summer. Produced by a Quebec-based team, the hero spot features the ’80s earworm, “C’est bon pour le moral” by La Compagnie Créole.
The agencies behind this campaign include Anomaly, Praxis, OMD, and MarkIV.