Nice rack
The moose has been a sexy iconic figure for Canada’s wilderness for over 300 years
By Katie Wallace
For centuries, Canadian businesses have turned to the same iconic advertising figure to sell
all manner of product. Long of leg, with a nice rack, this brown-haired natural beauty has
shilled everything from beer to baked goods. It is, of course, the moose.
Since Canada’s oldest corporation ― Hudson’s Bay Company founded in 1670 ― included
a couple of the huge shaggy beasts on their coat of arms, the moose has been a steadfast
icon and an integral part of marketing strategies across the country. Another example is
Moosehead Lager, Canada’s oldest independent brewery, who has used the massive ungulate
to sell its lager and ale for nearly 150 years.
But it’s not just time-honoured brands like the Bay or Moosehead that use the moose
as an iconic figure. In Moosehead’s hometown, Saint John, N.B., the city’s foremost
purveyors of biscotti and cappuccino, Java Moose, employ a cartoonish moose head on their
signage and promotional material, a natural fit with their Canadiana chic décor. Across
the country there’s the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg’s AHL hockey team, and the Blue
Moose Café in Hope, B.C., to name just a few incarnations.
So what does a moose have to do with coffee, beer or hockey? Phil Otto, president and CEO of
Image Design, a branding and advertising firm based in Halifax, says that superficially there’s
not a lot to recommend the moose as a marketing figure. "Quite frankly it’s a dirty,
mangy, clumsy creature. There’s nothing graceful about the moose," he says. And,
Otto explains, the day when advertisers routinely used characters or animals to move product
is essentially in its twilight. But, like hockey, beer or Tim Horton’s coffee, the power
of the moose lies its iconic embodiment of what it means to be Canadian.
"The moose is strong; it’s powerful," says Otto, likening the creature
to the four-wheel drive vehicle of the marketing world. "The moose is all about that
husky, Canadian wilderness," he says. "It is truly a Canadian icon."
Ray Wali, managing director of Mango Moose, an alternative marketing company based in
Mississauga, Ont., would definitely agree. The very fact that Wali’s neck of the
woods is one of the last places in the country you’d likely find a moose only underlines
the grip the beast holds on the national consciousness.
When he first established the business, Wali, whose family originally hails from Guyana,
wanted a name that reflected both the company’s Canadian roots as well as his family’s
heritage. He settled on Mango Moose because it combines iconic images from both countries.
And, Wali says, putting mango next to "moose" creates an interesting juxtaposition
that brings the moose into the 21 st century. "We’ve kind of spiced it up and
updated it," he says, adding that his company, which has a fresh, hip brand intentionally,
avoids using moose images in their marketing materials.
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The traditional three M’s of tourism marketing in
Canada: mountains, Mounties and, of course, moose. |
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But there is some evidence the moose is ready for retirement in some prominent Canadian
advertising circles. Last year, in the face of flagging visitor numbers, the Canadian Tourism
Commission rebranded the country as the adventure destination of choice, shelving the traditional
three M’s of tourism marketing in Canada: mountains, Mounties and, of course, moose.
The new Brand Canada entices tourists with the promise of a build-your-own-adventure holiday.
To quote Robert Frost, the new campaign positions Canada as the foremost destination for
taking the road less travelled — a road where visitors might even get a glimpse of
a real-life Canadian moose. If not, they can always reach for a cold Moosehead instead.
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