Annette Bourdeau

Your brand, the hero
Talk about value add. This summer, Torontonians will be able to get a free eco-friendly cab ride and an ice-cold drink, courtesy of Lipton Iced Tea.

Maxwell House brews goodwill
Maxwell House is perking up

Lavo’s thanks from all the fish
Who ever said nature scenes can’t be fun?

Sun-Rype keeps it real
What better way to reinforce that a product is made of real fruit than by animating a commercial using real fruit?

PC keeps getting greener
Loblaw Companies is reinforcing its rep as a leader in competitively priced, effective, eco-friendly products with its latest addition to the PC Green line: an automatic dishwashing detergent that is phosphate-free.

McDonald’s tries pop art
A chic art opening at Toronto’s chi-chi art deco venue the Carlu, hosted by… McDonald’s?

Vancity greens Dockside
Vancity is going beyond the extra mile to prove its commitment to the community.

Trashy Brand Engagement
To get kids excited about recycling (not to mention the launch of its third season), the PBS show Design Squad teamed up with Stamford, Conn.-based youth marketing agency BKFK (By Kids for Kids) for an Intel-sponsored contest to build useful items from garbage. The Trash to Treasure Competition offers a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation, and a Dell laptop for the best invention made of post-consumer materials.

Michelina’s dances away from jingle
Goodbye Macarena. Hello Mama.

Wal-Mart de Mexico signs Sportacus
Wal-Mart de Mexico is bringing in the big guns to mark its stance against childhood obesity. It just signed a multi-year agreement with Iceland-based LazyTown Entertainment, the international entertainment brand dedicated to promoting children’s health whose main star is spandex-clad athlete Sportacus.

BMW glows with Vice
Now you see it, now you don’t.

Sony Ericsson focuses on mobile photogs
Calling all camera phone artistes.

Lexus lets you see what raw power looks like
Toyota Canada’s luxury brand is launching a ridiculously high-performance model called the IS F this spring. The speedometer goes to 300, and it has eight gears and a 416hp engine. To play this up, Toronto-based AOR Dentsu Canada is putting together an ‘artists’ series’ of visual interpretations of the engine’s performance.

Taiga Bioactives beautifies its medicine chest
Who said cold sore cream can’t be sexy?

Vespa’s gang of squares
Watch out. Next time you turn a corner, you just might run into a six-foot-tall hipster with a head made of Vespa handlebars.