Boston Pizza tapped into the seething resentment of disgruntled Leafs fans Sunday with a campaign and activation inspired by their rage over another first round Stanley Cup playoffs exit.
The Canadian pizza chain took to X (formerly Twitter) with a message intended to grab the attention of the franchise’s fans in the wake of their game seven elimination, directing them to vent their frustrations in a “rage room” for two days in the parking lot of the chain’s Scarborough Town Centre location. After visiting the room, guests were then given a gift card to the Boston Pizza restaurant.
Developed by Camp Jefferson, the activation is part of the culture-hacking strategy of the brand intended to drive an “authentic connection” with its audience, according to Katie Muir, co-founder and CEO of Heads + Tales, which handled PR for the effort.
“When inserting yourself into the conversation, it’s important to get the right tone,” Muir told Campaign. “How is your audience already speaking to the topic on social media? How can the brand insert itself in a way that participates in the conversation, but in an authentic voice?”
“This isn’t a moment for brands to sell or push an offering. It’s a moment to show up for your consumers to say, ‘we hear you, we’re on your side, and we understand,’” Muir added. “Brands that do this well ultimately get recognized for it.”
Unsurprisingly, the tone of many in Leafs Nation following another disappointing end to the season, was one of upset—and so Boston Pizza met them where they were.
“Toronto’s elimination stings, but we’re here to ease the disappointment. And what better place to do that than at a spot with ‘Boston’ in its name?” explained James Kawalecki, vice-president of marketing at Boston Pizza International. “We encouraged Toronto fans to let loose, have some fun, and then return to cheering for other Canadian teams while enjoying the games at BP.”
In fact, driving Toronto fans to now back other Canadian teams is part of the brand’s larger strategy with its “Team Up for the Win” campaign.
“The playoff drought has been particularly long for Toronto fans,” said Joseph Elkouby, strategy director at Camp Jefferson. “In previous years, we’ve witnessed how fan disappointment has led many to disengage completely once Toronto drops out of the series. We believed it was time to provide these long-suffering fans with a satisfying way to vent so they can get back on board and cheer for another Canadian contender.”
Only two Canadian teams remain in playoff contention—the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks—and they are competing against each other in the second round.
Boston Pizza wasn’t the only brand to activate on social media around the Maple Leafs’ game seven. Sportsbooks were particularly active around the game: theScore Bet, ESPN Bet and NorthStar Bets, all published posts—before and after—intended to drive conversation.
NorthStar, working with Leo Burnett, took a particularly cheeky approach of booking a golf game for Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand since he would, NorthBet presumed, be done playing hockey Saturday night.
Posts like that tend to “work really well” for, said Muir.
“The best reactive culture hacking campaigns are ones that can spark lively debate—and nothing drives more debate than playoff hockey,” she added.
