Jack Astor’s celebrates ‘bromance’ with Palentine’s Day

It may be Valentine's Day, but Toronto-based The Garden is launching Palentine's Day (Feb 15th), a day dedicated to bromance, for Canadian restaurant chain Jack Astor's. 

Feb. 14 literally gets all the love, and Galentine’s Day has become something of a phenomenon in recent years, but Jack Astor’s is adding a new holiday that celebrates best buds to its calendar. Introducing: Palentine’s Day.

Building off the cultural success of “Galentine’s Day,” the Feb. 13 holiday celebrating female friendships that grew out of an episode of the popular sitcom Parks & Recreation, the casual dining chain’s new Feb. 15 holiday is exclusively devoted to “bromance.”

While old social norms and toxic masculinity once made the idea of expressing intimate male friendship unthinkable, Jack Astor’s young Gen Z target has grown up comfortable with the idea of expressing platonic love for their bros.

Jack Astor’s is promoting the new “holiday” with a social video campaign developed by agency partner The Garden. The video deliberately eschews the polished look and feel of traditional brand videos on social, opting instead to mimic the organic and often decidedly DIY videos that content creators shoot on their phone and immediately post to their feed.

The video shows a group of guy friends doing guy things (beer pong, video games, and chowing down on Jack’s burgers and chicken tenders), while also comfortably expressing affection for their friends. “It’s 2022 and, like, time to get progressive,” says one, putting his arm around his pal. “‘Cause there’s nothing wrong with showing some platonic male love to your best pals.”

The video goes on to show one friend dropping his phone in a red beer cup while explaining that he’s “putting bae on do-not-disturb,” while another asks his friends which of his three white t-shirts he should wear for their night together. “I just want to look good for you, bros,” he explains.

“Instead of being constrained by budgets and timelines, we wanted to create nimble content in order to be more responsive to all the events of a fun and fast-moving restaurant like Jack's,” says Lindsay Eady, Creative Director, The Garden. “Social content isn’t entertaining because it’s perfectly lit, coloured and cut. Funny doesn’t need all that lipstick.”

Jack Astor’s is also inviting its young audience to celebrate Palentine’s Day with a “bromantic” dinner special, which includes a free beer pong set with every order.  Viewers are also invited to tag a friend for a chance to win a $100 Jack’s gift card every day for one week.

Because bros deserve some tenders, love and care too.

Check out the social vid's on Jack's Instagram, and embedded here.
Palentines 1 and Palentines 2. 

Campaign Title: Palentine's Day
Client: Jack Astor’s (SirCorp)
Vice President, Marketing: Anesie Johnson
Assistant Digital Media Manager: Amanda Farrow

Creative Agency: The Garden
Chief Creative Officer: Shane Ogilvie
Chief Strategy Officer: Shari Walczak
Creative Director: Francheska Galloway-Davis
Creative Director: Lindsay Eady
Art Director: Mriga Suchdeva
Copywriter: Nuala Murray
Strategy Director: Jenn Munoz
Director: Clay Stang
Editor: Brett Rostrup
Music: David Henriques
Business Lead: Tina Obersnel
Project Lead: Julia Zammit

About SIR Corp.
SIR Corp. ("SIR") is a privately held Canadian corporation that owns a portfolio of 53 restaurants in Canada. SIR's Concept brands include: Jack Astor's Bar and Grill®, with 37 locations; Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar® with nine locations; and Canyon Creek®, with two locations. SIR also operates one-of-a-kind "Signature" brands including Reds® Wine Tavern, Reds® Square One and The Loose Moose®. All trademarks related to the Concept and Signature brands noted above are used by SIR under a License and Royalty Agreement with SIR Royalty Limited Partnership. SIR also owns one Duke's Refresher® & Bar location in downtown Toronto, and one seasonal Signature restaurant, Abbey's Bakehouse®, which are currently not in consideration to be part of the Royalty Pool. For more information on SIR Corp. or the SIR Royalty Income Fund, please visit www.sircorp.com.

About The Garden
The Garden is a creative company, headquartered in Toronto, that believes that brands need to start focusing less on the impressions they buy and more on the impressions they make. Through the development of a strong strategic foundation and a holistic approach to creative problem solving and design, The Garden helps companies uncover the ‘why’ in what they do, with the goal of making every connection point an opportunity to build stronger, more lasting relationships with their customers.