Anyone with even half a heart will be moved by Boston Pizza’s new video promoting its well-known Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Pizzas.
Developed by Toronto agency Mixtape, the video focuses on Nick and Sarah—a young couple living thousands of kilometres apart, in Toronto, Ontario and New Minas, Nova Scotia. The creative idea is that the couple plans to use Skype to “share” one of Boston Pizza’s famous heart shaped pizzas in their respective restaurants. What Sarah doesn’t know is that Boston Pizza has secretly flown Nick from Nova Scotia to surprise her.
After Nick receives his heart-shaped pizza, he excuses himself and secretly makes his way through the restaurant to Sarah. The resulting video captures him surprising Sarah and presenting her with an entire heart-shaped pizza as the two enjoy a reunion in the restaurant.
“Boston Pizza has been bringing Canadians together to share heart-shaped pizzas for 40 years and we thought it was important to find a fresh way to celebrate the fact that so many people have shared a heart-shaped Boston Pizza together since we started making them all the way back in 1980,” says Peter Blackwell, SVP Marketing & Communications at Boston Pizza. “We hope Nick and Sarah’s story will inspire Canadians from coast-to-coast to share a heart-shaped Boston Pizza this Valentine’s Day.”
“For years, people across Canada have been sharing their stories about Boston Pizza - from first dates to engagements and beyond,” adds Joe Myers, Mixtape President and Founder. “We thought it was a natural fit to create (literally) a surprising new way to remind Canadians to come in and ‘Gather Round’ at Boston Pizza on Valentine’s Day."
Boston Pizza’s heart-shaped pizza has become a Valentine’s Day staple over the last 40 years. The chain expects to sell 60,000 of the pizzas on February 14th at its more than 390 restaurants across Canada. Boston Pizza donates $1 from every pizza sold on Valentine’s Day to Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects to fund organizations that provide kids with access to role models and mentoring programs—including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone, Live Different, JDRF and the Rick Hansen Foundation.
Heart-shaped pizzas will be sold at all Boston Pizzas across Canada on February 14th.
Title: Heart to Heart
Client: Boston Pizza Canada
SVP, Marketing: Peter Blackwell
Senior Director of Marketing: James Kawalecki
Sr Marketing Manager: Niels van Oyen
Marketing Manager: Matthew Paxton
Agency: Mixtape
Executive Creative Director: Greg Shortall
Copywriter: Jesse Cantlon
Art Director: Joe Verkuyl
Editor: Michael Wagenknecht
Director of Strategic Planning: Lisa Pratt
Account Manager: Sam Fusco
Director/Editor: Rob Comeau
Production Company: KSI
Executive Producer: Kegan Sant
Line Producer: Erica Paiero
AD: Jason Bourke
Food Stylist: Sarah Collier
Sound Mixer: Jeff Magat
Casting: Stephen Milo / Milo Casting
Editorial: Comeau Productions
Colour: Jordan Batchelor