Text Take a high-quality product in new single-serve format. Add one TV star. Choose a promotional idea to appeal to youngsters. Concoct an ad campaign to attract consumers. That was Lassonde’s recipe for its very first mass advertising and promotional campaign.

In the early 1970s, TV host, singer and actor Jacques Boulanger was everywhere. Nicknamed the “sympathique Boubou,” (likeable Boubou) the celebrity was widely loved. He was down-to-earth and caring and warm towards everyone he encountered – kids, adults, and old people alike. A tad naïve with a good sense of humour, he embodied the company’s values in some ways and his public image seemed like a good fit for the product Lassonde wanted to promote. So the Company approached him to take part in this first ad campaign.

It was a two-pronged campaign. First, there was the TV ad starring Jacques Boulanger, in which he and a child were seen to be building a scooter together, with each of them enjoying a 10 oz. container of apple juice. Once it had been broadcast, pads of tear-off coupons with complete instructions for how to build the same scooter as in the TV ad were posted on every shelf of R brand apple juice. It was a surefire way to get youngsters’ attention. This was an era – a golden age in the minds of many parents – when children’s eyes weren’t glued to screens all day long.

Next column: And we’re off!…