Talk:I Am Canadian

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What was more amusing about this, at least for me as someone who has studied rudimentary linguistics, is that he actually said "about" in the way that is often heard as "aboot." So...he did say "aboot," sort of :) Also, who ever says chesterfield? Bah... Adam Bishop 04:48, 24 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Prairie grandmothers and monarchists say "chesterfield". Bearcat 04:54, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)
That's not really accurate. Young people say chesterfield too, it's just much more formal. In general usage, my stoned friend crashes on my couch, my mother buys a new sofa for her living room, and I offer the Prime Minister a seat on my chesterfield. 128.100.89.51 13:55, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

I can't believe what I had read about him just recently. He MOVED TO LOS ANGELES IN 2001!! How's that for Canadian pride? SD6-Agent 08:57, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

"During the course of the piece, Shatner states that his beer of preference is Molson's competitor Labatt." It probably should be noted that Labatt is (was then at least) a major sponsor of the Just For Laughs festival, which probably had some impact on it being his beer of choice. I'm not sure how to word it, so I'll let someone else do it.

In defense of my accent, we don't say a"boot", it is a softer sound than that, somewhere between the american "about" and the characterized a"boot".

I am an ex-pat Canadian who has lived in the SF Bay Area for ten years. My experience has been that Canadians living in Canada are almost universally incapable of detecting their accent or the accents of those around them (this is likely true of many types of accent, not just Canadians). I was shocked to talk to my friends and relatives after I had lived in California for a couple of years -- the "oot" and "a-boot" sounds are very strong and distinctive and nearly ubiquitous, even in my home base of suburban Toronto. Ironically, Joe has no discernable Canadian accent and sounds like he had just moved to Toronto from LA rather than vice versa. On the other hand, the accent is relatively easy to unlearn and I have done so; other Americans can no longer detect mine, which leads to very confused looks when they find out I am an immigrant -- they can't figure out where the heck I might have come from.

Whilst we are thought to say "aboot" we accuse americans of saying "ruf" instead of "roof". kc4 - the Server Monkey Enforcer 23:41, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

  • They do say "ruff", I was watching an American-made video on DIY renovations the other day and I got so distracted because they kept talking about how to "ruff" properly, because it'd be terrible if your "ruff" started to leak. :| --70.66.130.206 18:09, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
  • That is an interesting observation, some Americans use ruff and others roof (there is a split even in my immediate family, but I grew up in Minnesota, near the Canadian border). I agree with the previous poster though. A group of friends and I ran into some Canadian girls in Germany and they insisted we had identical accents as them, while we could easily detect a difference, particulary in regard to the "o" pronunciation. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.14.26.29 (talk) 04:16, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Context

Perhaps it is not best to include specifically just the Joe Canada commercial, as the I am Canadian slogan was used in many commercials. This is topic that spawned many commercials that dealt with Canadian patriotism, and not just the Joe Canada commercial. Thus, I would propose that this article deals more with the impact of the I am Canadian slogan than just this one commercial. I did create an article called Joe Canada before I saw this article, and it is totally acceptable to me for it to be merged into this one, however, this article must pertain to the whole campaign, and not just the "My Name is Joe, and I am Canadian!" commercial. Croat Canuck 06:00, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image Removal

I removed this image from the article:

I Am Canadian

It's a very lovely image, but I don't think a homemade endorsement is appropriate for an encyclopedia. And it is an endorsement, not only of Joe's speech, but of the beverage. It's a bit like someone posting a homemade image in the What's up article of a young man holding a Budweiser and sticking out his tongue, labelling it "Wazzzzzzzzup?"

Of course, a scan from the actual commercial would be acceptable, if someone can produce that. In the meantime I've replaced it with the Molson logo. 151.204.152.94 02:31, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Maybe use this picture? paat 21:34, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Molson mobilises more Canadians that the gouverment can -.-

I've heard that the commercials of I am Canadian by Molson has been able to fin dmore pride in the Canadians' hearts than what the federal gouverment can. Its kinda kool, accually paat 21:26, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

You're surprised that more Canadians love beer than the government? And to top that off, the commercial played the greatest hockey goal in Canadian history in the background. - Dharmabum420 05:52, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
Really? I didnt know it was the greatest goal... who was it? paat 21:59, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

A beer ad mobilises Canadian pride and a series of hocky games moblises Edmontonian prode to the bursting point. kc4 - the Server Monkey Enforcer 00:14, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I am a Newfoundlander

quote: Several radio stations have produced provincual version in this vein. These include I am an Albertan, I am a British Columbian, and I am a Newfoundlander.

Shouldn't it be I am a Newfy? lol. But seriously, that's what would be my first guess. Just asking thx paat 21:59, 24 March 2006 (UTC)


[edit] From an American

I am a pro-Canadian American. I like Molson. I never realized how offensive (to me, anyway) this ad was until I read this article. How sad that Molson thinks the entire Canadian identity can be summarized by cheap anti-Americanism. I think I'm gonna switch to Labatt.

You should think it's pathetic that as a modern American, you should have to proclaim whether you are pro- or anti-Canadian. --RPaleja 01:59, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

It is kinda sad and ironic and Coors got hold of Molson. kc4 - the Server Monkey Enforcer 23:47, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] basest Canadian attribute: anti-Americanism

Woah! "basest [lowest] Canadian attribute: anti-Americanism." is pretty POV. First of all it acts as if Canadians were "anti-American", this can be argued for the general population - but this is still not a fact and presenting it as so is POV. Secondly, judging it as "basest" or "highest" is POV as well. The anti-USAmericanism I have seen in Canada was towards the government, not the people. Being against a government is not a "low" or "high" attribute.

I have removed the sentence "Others suggested that since the primary purpose of the commercial is to sell a product to as much of the market as possible, Molson pandered to the basest Canadian attribute: anti-Americanism." because I was not sure how to reword it, and the article is better without than with. Still, the sentence does have a point and if someone is capable of of making it NPOV then go ahead.

As for the commercial itself, I don't particularly care fot it - it's bad, but so is most of television and it's advertisement, which is why I don't watch it. The only thing I dislike would be "And the best part of North America!", which promotes nationalism - something I consider most despicable. --A Sunshade Lust 22:57, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Untrue trivia?

I am Canadian was a popular series of Canadian television commercials aired in the 1990s and early 2000s
vs.
This commercial premiered during the Academy Awards, which, in that year, included Robin Williams singing the song "Blame Canada," a satirical song from the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
1990s vs. a 1999 movie sounds a bit strange, I guess the trivia is wrong. Or have I missed something? --32X 02:45, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

1999 is part of the 1990s. So technically, if something happened in 1999 and 2000, it happened over two decades. -- Zanimum 18:21, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I am Australian

Does anyone else here think that the chorus sounds a bit like the chorus in I Am Australian?Australian Jezza 06:31, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Article-title capitalization

Daniel11 recently moved this article from I Am Canadian to I am Canadian with the following justification in the edit summary:

moved I Am Canadian to I am Canadian over redirect: 1) This is a title, not just a phrase. 2) The MOS doesn't mention verb capitalization. 3) The place that does refer to capitalization, the Naming Conventions, indicates using the lower-case form.

I have moved the article back because this justification is both illogical and incorrect in several points. First, it is correct in saying (somewhat ambiguously) that this phrase is the title of a work and therefore a proper-noun phrase, not just a phrase. But that is a justification for capitalizing, not decapitalizing. Second, the relevant MOS page, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (capitalization), makes clear that verbs (and everything else but some articles, prepositions, and conjunctions) are capitalized when used within creative-work titles:

In general, titles of books, films, and other works are also capitalized, except for articles ("a", "an", "the") and prepositions and conjunctions (e.g., "to", "from", "and") unless they begin the title. Examples: A New Kind of Science, Ghost in the Shell, To Be or Not to Be.

The real problem here is that the terms "naming conventions" and "titles" are ambiguous, and it is easy to confuse what is relevant. Daniel11 apparently confused the general Wikipedia naming convention of sentence case, which is used for all non-proper noun phrases like Wikipedia article titles and headings, with the specific naming convention of creative-work titles, people's names and titles (as in honorifics), and other proper nouns. A phrase like "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy", when not referring to the title of a creative work, is indeed not capitalized when used as a Wikipedia article title (except for the proper nouns within the phrase). But an ad campaign titled "I Am Canadian" is capitalized anywhere within a Wikipedia title, heading, or article text, because the proper-noun rule takes precedence. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 00:20, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

I was a bit tired when I made the change, and I did a really bad job of explaining what I meant (and possibly also screwed up the logic). I guess I should have added a comment somewhere instead of moving the page.
One thing that I'm unsure of, and that I meant by it being a title, is this: with a proper name, I believe we generally keep the work's capitalization, e.g. iPod or is 5, even if it breaks WP's or any other convention, and as I recall it Molson may have used the specific capitalization "I am Canadian." I've only looked around a tiny bit, and for instance here they show it that way, but perhaps other sources show it differently. Should we try to locate a definitive version of their capitalization, i.e. is my supposition about proper names correct?
Jeff Q is right that if it were just a phrase, as opposed to a proper name, then it would certainly have the lower-case as a Wikipedia article name.
Cheers, and I'll try to be more careful about page moves in future. --Daniel11 03:52, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of notability tag

This ad campaign was hugely popular, had cultural impact, and was imitated by advertisers worldwide. Here are a few references that may be incorporated into the article, though I don't have time to do it right now:

There are plenty more, but you get the idea. Time to improve the article... Mindmatrix 17:28, 29 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair enough, none of those were in the article when I added the tag. Also, I suggest you replace the findarticles.com links with links to the real articles that findarticles.com found, if possible —gorgan_almighty 17:46, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
Neither paper is online it seems, and both require payment. "Selling patriotism" was in the The American Review of Canadian Studies (Spring 2002), whereas "National identity in beer commercials" was in The Journal of Popular Culture (November, 2003), published by Blackwell Publishing. Mindmatrix 18:27, 29 October 2007 (UTC)