To celebrate its 125th anniversary and drive some pre-Olympic excitement, Canada Basketball is rolling out a campaign called ‘Sorry’ (‘Pardon’ in French versions) that light heartedly mocks the Canadians tendency to apologize even when they’ve done nothing wrong.
Led by a flagship TV commercial featuring an array of Canadians (both professional stars and members of the public) apologising for accidental fouls and non-deliberate transgressions: the scenes stretch from everyday life instances (like accidentally brushing someone’s hand on train) to on-court action (as players swat away shots and drain 3-pointers).
Technically a pro bono PSA (Public Service Announcement) as the Canadian Government contributed to the campaign funding.
But it iss essentially a property promotional campaign.
‘Sorry’ was filmed across 13 different Toronto locations and features a slew of top Canadian players such as Steve Nash and Cory Joseph.
As well as the former two-time NBA MVP Nash and Raptors point guard Joseph, the ad also stars two-time Olympic gold medalists Kia Nurse, Tamara Tatham and Miah-Marie Langlois, plus members of the 2016 Rio Paralympic wheelchair team and recent Denver Nuggets seventh overall draft pick Jamal Murray.
The 30-second spot, developed in harness with Sapient Nitro, closes with the Canada Basketball logo and the hashtag #SoSorry.
The underlying message is, of course, that the country’s top ballers are reversing the Canadian stereotype and showing the world that when it comes to winning and national pride they aren’t nearly as polite as their reputation.
The ad is running on broadcast outlets (including TSN).
The spot is amplified socially on the Canada Basketball Facebook page and across Twitter,
125 years since basketball was invented and we can't help but apologize for our growing success. #WeAreTeamCanada
https://t.co/4kEjSCVSuy— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) July 6, 2016
Something changes when we step on the court. #SoSorry pic.twitter.com/QmizFK9j23
— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) July 6, 2016
and all assets and executions come in dual language formats to engage both the English and French speaking parts of the nation.
Nous ne sommes pas si polis quand la fierté nationale est en jeu. #SoSorry pic.twitter.com/hdLOE35MIS
— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) July 7, 2016
‘Canada is starting to come out of its shell in some ways, but apologising is still one of our nice little quirks,’ explains SapientNitro creative director Chad Borlase.
‘This is a nod in that direction, while also being proud about who we are and what we can achieve on the world stage.’
The spot was directed by OPC’s Max Sherman, editing was handled by Saints, post production by Alter Ego, audio by Boombox and visual effects by Fort York.
Comment
The twin insights behind the campaign are firstly the clichéd, but true Canadian tendency to causally apologise even when doing nothing wrong and secondly that the country is currentlky having something of a ‘basketball moment’.
Young talents have gone high up in recent NBA drafts (like Joseph and Andrew Wiggins), while the Toronto Raptors made it through to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals this season and competed fiercely with LeBron James and his eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
While Canada’s women’s basketball team is currently ranked ninth in the world and the men’s team stands at 26th in the world standings according to International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rankings.
‘There’s a giant feeling and mood behind basketball right now, as there should be,’ adds SapientNitro’s Borlase.
‘We want to help Canada Basketball spur that and leverage it and help them tell a better story. We’re going to partner with them long-term, and this PSA is designed to give them some more awareness and solidify their ability to train athletes.’
With plenty of positive social media response,
Canada Basketball's promo titled "sorry" is hilariously good. VIDEO @ https://t.co/CVhCds3TFy pic.twitter.com/nPqFwqw3zs
— BarDown (@BarDown) July 7, 2016
retweets and likes in the 1000s, plus in excess of 130,000 views and a solid 118,674 YouTube views in first 10 days, the campaign also leveraged interest in #WeAreTeamCanada during #FIBAOQT and in the lead-up to Rio 2016
Links:
Canada Basketball YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CanadaBasketball08
Canada Basketball Twitter:
Canada Basketball Web:
Canada Basketball Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CanadaBasketball
Canada Basketball Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/canadabasketballofficial/
Canada Basketball Google+:
https://plus.google.com/u/1/+CanadaBasketball1
Sapient Nitro:
