From Axmith McIntyre Wicht – the Toronto agency which suggested Ontario was ours to discover in the ’80s – and The Players Film Company director/cameraman Henry Less, come four energetic new spots for Ontario Tourism featuring beautiful landscapes, breathtaking sunsets and a focus on real people.

Aside from a brief campaign last summer, Ontario Tourism backed out of advertising in the domestic market a few years ago. Subsequent research showed a decline in the numbers of Ontarians holidaying in their province and lack of awareness of what the province has to offer its residents as a vacation destination.

So, with the facts on the table, Ontario Tourism decided it was time to get back into the ad game with an $8-million campaign, using television supported by radio and print.

This time out, Minister of Tourism Al Paladini wasn’t in the market for a jingle and some pretty postcard pictures; he wanted a campaign revolving around the people of the province.

John McIntyre, amw partner/creative director, says the research also showed Ontario underperforms on the ‘welcome dimension’ among Canadians.

This discovery led to the creation of a campaign focusing on real people working in Ontario’s hospitality industry. The most difficult part of the exercise, says McIntyre, was finding the right people.

The province was divided into four different regions – north, south, east and west – and with the divisions in place, the job became a ‘creative and pragmatic’ exercise of deciding who would be the most appealing and logical spokesperson to represent each area.

An actor on stage at the Stratford Festival speaks of the romance of Southwest Ontario’s live theater between shots of lakes and landscapes; in eastern Ontario, the focus is on heritage at Old Fort Henry; the bright lights and whir of Toronto are captured from its most recognizable landmark, the CN Tower; and speaking on behalf of the north is a bush pilot, who was discovered through a bush pilot museum in Sault Sainte Marie and flown to Toronto for the shoot.

Less had a large part in the casting, but says that due to the tight time frame he could only be on hand for the call backs and not, as he prefers, the first call where there’s a chance he’ll ‘uncover a gem that otherwise might have just slipped by unnoticed.’

‘We are always trying to come up with unique situations, created by people we have not seen, doing things we haven’t seen before,’ says Less. ‘Keeping it fresh is what every director is striving for.’

Since the shoot took place in March, snow still covered the ground in many areas and there was a lot of cover-up work to do. Half the shots, those of wilderness and landmarks, were taken from the earlier ‘Yours To Discover’ campaign directed by Bruce Dowad.

The CN Tower spot was almost entirely original footage, which meant cramming all the gear into the elevator and riding up and down. The noise of the wind was also a problem, as was the tricky job of shooting in front of mirrors, solved by using one source of light, which provided just the right degree of flattery on the tour guide without taking away from the vibrant city exposed behind her.

When it came to the Toronto at night spot, Less admits he shot a huge amount of footage as he was trying to really pull back some of the layers of the city and have it burst open.

‘There was a list of need-to-haves, but in the end, except for a few essential things, everything else was decided by how it blended into the edit to make it as seamless as possible so you are really drawn into the tale instead of just seeing a bunch of images colliding into one another.’

Less attributes much of the success of the Ontario spots to Flashcut editor Norm Odell. ‘He was a perfectionist,’ says Less, ‘and this job required that kind of attitude.’

While these spots (also airing in Montreal and Winnipeg) will fade out with the end of June, new Ontario Tourism commercials will hit the airwaves in the fall and winter, and although no director has been assigned yet, Less has put his bid in on the job.

Music for the spots was recorded by a live 50-piece orchestra at Manta Eastern Sound.

Agency personnel included copywriter Shawn McClenny, art director Derek Higgs and broadcast producer Bob Kirk. Producer for Players was Elaine Miike.