"Canada joins neighbor Detroit in festivities" by Dave Andrews V8, i38

As most of us where aware, the Super Bowl XL was held in the Motor City, Detroit. Marketing efforts were not only conducted in our native USA, but because of the proximity, now can be conducted in the adjacent Windsor, Canada. Twenty-four years ago, which was the last time Detroit held a Super Bowl, Canada marketing efforts weren’t even attempted. Windsor, a town of 200,000 people, is located just fifteen minutes away from downtown Detroit; a very drivable distance.

One of the big sponsors of the Super Bowl XL is Budweiser. For this year’s event, Budweiser Canada distributed 350,000 cases of beer packs with the Detroit XL logo to help promote the game. These were special mixed packs indeed, not only with the logo, but also a variety of both Budweiser and Budweiser Light. Mark Ditmars (senior brand manager of Budweiser Canada) credits this promotion with boosting sales revenue which helped improve their yearly sales. He claimed that if it weren’t for December’s sales, they’re profits would show a flat projection, instead of the rising one they received.

Included in the Budweiser Canada marketing efforts for Super Bowl XL, 650 people won a trip the day of the game from Toronto to Windsor. Of those, 65 people won tickets to the actual game, while the rest enjoying parties in Windsor. For those who won tickets to the game, NFL has arranged pre-approved vehicles to cross the border without being stopped. Other efforts include a Budweiser sponsored tailgate party on the Canadian side to an NFL International party in Windsor. Immediately before the game, NFL Canada sponsored the Canadian youth flag football championships, which the winner will go to the global flag football championship.