Oh Cana-duh!

Here's another Canadian TV ad I like. It's at least three years old now, but still funny (for me, anyway...some Americans have taken offense to this ad). I'm sure so many others have blogged on this ad before, but what the heck, I still feel like sharing it. =)

"My name is Joe, and I am Canadian"
(Molson beer ad)
--A hilarious take on American stereotypes of Canada/Canadians. Luv it when he gets hysterical towards the end, hahaha!


(Thing above not playing properly? Try this.)

Hey, I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader....
I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled....
and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really really nice.

I have a Prime Minister, not a president.
I speak English and French, not American.
And I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot'.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, not policing,
diversity, not assimilation,
and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch,
and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed' !!!!

Canada is the second largest landmass!
The first nation of hockey!
and the best part of North America

My name is Joe!!
And I am Canadian!!!

For the uninitiated, here's some background that helps explain the enormous popularity of this ad among Canadians:

Canadians strive--painstakingly, at times--to differentiate themselves from Americans. Let's put it this way: (Anglo-)Canadians and (Anglo-)Americans are pretty indistinguishable to foreigners (i.e., those living outside North America), and some Canadians resent being mistaken for Americans when they go travelling to other continents (especially in places where there's brewing anti-American sentiment).

So Canadians want to assert their difference from Americans. Not a very easy feat, considering how geographically close to each other Canada and US are, how culturally similar they are, how tightly integrated their economies are (though the power is lopsided in favour of US), how Canadians heavily consume American pop culture (ubiquitous), and of course, how much more politically dominant the US is on the world stage. It's fair to say that US has such a strong personality that Canada pretty much fades into the background. Perception-wise, Canada hardly exists as it gets swallowed up by the more dominant US. This arguably poses some sort of identity crisis for Canadians as they appear to be nothing but a tame shadow of their bully bastard BIG powerful neighbour south of the border. (In recent years, anxieties over the loose "Canadian identity" have heightened because of NAFTA and globalization in general.)

So there's my li'l contextual take on this ad. =) If you're curious for more, consult this.