Hellmann’s took a lighthearted approach this past Canada Day long weekend, giving chickens a day off to tell its farm-to-fork story.

For the “WeekHENd takeover,” the Unilever brand took a social-first approach with a spot showing chickens lounging in Muskoka chairs dockside.

“We want[ed] to tell our farm-to-fork story in a way that shows how important real ingredients, like our eggs, are… From the classic mayo to the vegan sandwich spread, it’s all proudly made in Canada with no artificial ingredients or preservatives,” says Lara Wazz, associate brand manager, Unilever.

Hellmann’s has been made in Canada for 75 years, and on a day where “Canadians’ quiet patriotism gets politely louder, it was a fitting day to celebrate the brand’s farm-to-fork story,” she says, adding that its products are made from Canadian-sourced ingredients, such as free-run eggs from Ontario and Quebec, as well as responsibly sourced canola oil from the prairies.

The creative lived on Hellmann’s Instagram page, where audiences could watch content that captures the hens partaking in some of country’s favourite Canada Day activities.

“We leveraged Instagram… [as it] offers many interactive tools such as polls and quizzes that allowed us to interact with our audience in real-time throughout the takeover,” Wazz says, who adds that the brand is considering bringing back the hens for future long weekends.

“Our intention is to be light-hearted, fun, and to join Canadians in their long weekend festivities whether that is having a family BBQ, relaxing by a lake, playing cornhole in the backyard, or enjoying a beautiful Canada Day firework display,” Wazz says.

Creative was led by Edelman Canada, with PHD offering paid media support and U-Studio supporting on owned channel community management.

It was a busy long weekend for the mayonnaise brand.

Hellmann’s also reconstructed its jar, making it look like cubist art, with help from agency partner Ogilvy Canada, with OOH and social proclaiming that it has been “proudly imitated since 1913.”

As Francesco Grandi, chief creative officer of Ogilvy Canada put it, “lookalikes don’t taste alike.”

“As a new strategy, we’re going to focus on the superiority and iconicity of one of the world’s most beloved brands,” Grandi says. “There might be a thousand and one mayos out there, but there’s really only one.”