Has the Canada Dry social media team not seen Heated Rivalry?
The Hollanov hive is thirsty
Oooh the beverage brands are fighting—and we can see why.
Given the colossal and well-deserved success of Heated Rivalry, a love story about two queer hockey players, one of whom drinks large volumes of ginger ale, it would make sense for Canada Dry to get in on the action with some kind of social media joint slay. Every other brand is talking about “the cottage,” but not Canada Dry, the manufacturer of Shane Hollander’s preferred libation?
Related: Heated Rivalry fans have discovered the Hamilton location of a very sweet scene
The silence is deafening, and it’s been noticed by fans, who are now bombarding Canada Dry’s socials with feedback. “Goddd you’re missing so much right now,” reads one comment. “It’s been eight weeks since Heated Rivalry began and there are NO relevant postings. Epic fail,” reads another. There are approximately hundreds of messages like this. What’s going on?
The social media manager at Tim Hortons would also like to know. When the poster behind the Canada Dry curtain logged back on after the holidays—the period when Heated Rivalry became the most-watched original series ever on Crave—they simply tweeted, “Dry January, but make it cozy.” The Tim Hortons account replied, “Is this a cottage reference?” Well, is it? Still no response.
Maybe the brand is planning something big, like a billboard along the Gardiner near Scotiabank Arena, or an epic ad during a Leafs game, or iconic limited-edition ginger ale cans featuring the adorable faces of Ilya and Shane, and also Scott and Kip. You don’t even need to pay us for these ideas, Canada Dry—take them for free!
To be fair, Tim Hortons could also be doing more. We need a blueberry smoothie with extra banana on the menu yesterday.
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
