If there’s one thing Canadians get passionate about, it’s hockey.
And there are very few sports fans in the world as rabid as the Montreal Canadiens’ fans.
When the Habs win a playoff game, the fans party, loot and set cop cars on fire in the street of downtown Montreal.
When the Habs lose a playoff game, the fans riot, loot and set cop cars on fire in the streets of downtown Montreal.
They’re quite consistent those Habs fans.
Anyway, with the Canadiens facing the Boston Bruins tonight in their conference quarterfinal matchup opener, popular fan hangout Boston Pizza has decided to show their ‘bleu, blanc et rouge’ colours in Quebec by temporarily changing their name.
So farewell to ‘Boston Pizza’ and hello to ‘Montreal Pizza.’
The name change affects 26 of the chain’s 340 Canadian restaurants, all of which located within La Belle Province.
The decision to roll out the name change was a last-minute one, according to Boston Pizza Quebec’s lead marketing director Carl Pichette.
“The money came from the franchises themselves,” Pichette explained to La Presse Affaires. “(And) we had to be really creative with our (money), because we’re rolling out another marketing campaign at the same time.”
According to Jean-François Béliveau, the creative director for Zip Communications, the company that came up with the idea, it wasn’t a new idea. In fact, the idea first arose last year, apparently when it looked like the Bruins and Habs would wind up facing each other in the 2010 playoffs. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
“Last year, the Philadelphia Flyers eliminated the Bruins,” Béliveau explains. “So we decided to keep the idea a secret.”
And now, on the eve of their first match, ‘Montreal Pizza’ is opening its doors in Quebec. For a little while at least.
Tags: Boston Bruins, Boston Pizza, Habs, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, NHL playoffs
I’m curious to see what would happen if Boston ends up winning the series. Would they dare change it back to BP?
whether it’s called Boston Pizza or Québec Pizza, they remain pizzas that were delivered pre-cooked and frozen to their various restaurants.