Canadian Tire has long stated its belief in the power of play, and this year’s “We All Play For Canada” Olympic campaign does that both through the eyes of kids themselves and athletes that have made it to the Olympic stage.

The campaign aims to show Canadians of the importance play has in developing values from the playground to the podium, by showing that play can strengthen communities by instilling good sportsmanship in children. The hero spot for the campaign takes place at a kids baseball diamond, where a hearing impaired pitcher delivers a win for his team, signing his appreciation to his parents in the stands.

In line with the brands previous sports-related marketing, Canadian Tire based this campaign on its belief that sports have the ability to instill empathy and compassion into future generations. That’s an ideal shared by its customers, with 92% of parents believing that nurturing positive character traits in children is more important than ever​.

“For the last 100 years Canadian Tire has always believed that playing teaches us to be better humans and better humans make for stronger communities,” says Irene Daley, AVP of strategic marketing at Canadian Tire.

“We All Play for Canada” has been the brand’s Olympics marketing platform for eight years, reflecting the power of sport and play in bringing people together. As much of organized sport had to pause due to the pandemic, Daley says the brand felt it needed to support the benefits of sport and play for our children, our athletes and for all Canadians, more than ever.

The campaign starts on July 23, and will display across CBC’s Olympic broadcasts, OOH, social, digital and PR. While the message of this year’s campaign is roughly in line with previous Games, this year, Canadian has invested more in digital in order to connect with as many Canadians as possible, adding interactive Twitter campaigns, polls, trend takeovers, a custom emoji, conversation cards and personal messages from athletes.

OOH is another large investment this year that will feature a combination of static and digital billboards, featuring a host of Canadian Olympians relaying their own messages about the positive benefits sport has had on their lives.

It will also feature large interactive installations dubbed “Celebration Walls” in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, King City, Montreal and Quebec City – the home towns of six Canadians athletes, with each “Wall” customized to them.

Following unveilings with each athlete’s family, the “Walls” will be in place for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics, with Canadians invited to come out, take a photo or video and share it on social while tagging the athlete themselves, part of a trend of  Olympic sponsors finding ways to cheer on Canadian athletes from afar.

Canadian Tire will also start a “play chain” on TikTok with some of its athletes as part of one of its first major executions on the platform. A TikTok chain starts with one video, which is then recreated by another user and continues, with each new video adding to the chain.

Leo Burnett developed the creative for the campaign, while Touché worked on the media and Veritas handling PR and the “Celebration Walls.”