Often overlooked but resilient: Cheeky tourism campaign frames Winnipeg as middle child

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 04, 2025 8:49 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

What started arsenic an April Fools gag connected societal media is present acceptable to go a caller tourism run for Winnipeg — branding the metropolis beyond its landmarks.

Say hullo to the mediate child of Canada.

"Winnipeg is self-deprecating, possibly often overlooked, but funny. We thought it sounded a small spot similar a mediate child," said Kathy Tarrant, vice president of selling astatine Tourism Winnipeg. 

"Middle children are often humorous, they're funny but they're besides resilient ... a batch of those aforesaid qualities truly construe into what makes a Winnipegger truthful antithetic and special."

In airy of the ongoing commercialized warfare betwixt Canada and the United States, Tourism Winnipeg is hoping to capitalize connected the accidental to gully much Canadian visitors to the city, according to Tyler Walsh, manager of selling for the organization.

As it began exploring alternatives for a summertime campaign to seizure the request for local tourism, it stumbled connected a middling idea that became the look of their newest branding. 

The idea was archetypal presented arsenic an April Fools' Day joke arsenic a mode to trial the waters and get feedback earlier considering an authoritative run launch. 

"It was a small spot quirky and a small spot different," Tarrant said. "Winnipeggers are the hardest critics. They'll archer america erstwhile we've missed the people oregon erstwhile we've deed [it]." 

Walsh said the feedback connected societal media was "overwhelmingly positive" and acold exceeded what the enactment had seen for campaigns successful erstwhile years.

"We decidedly struck a nerve," helium said.

"I don't deliberation you ever expect to person astir 100 per cent affirmative feedback connected thing that you enactment retired into the world."

WATCH | Tourism Winnipeg's April Fools' gag turns into existent campaign:

The run volition beryllium launched successful May in Saskatchewan, Alberta and northwestern Ontario passim the summer.

"If we tin person a small amusive and adhd a consciousness of humour successful that benignant of Winnipeg wink and motion to the things that we enactment retired there, that's fantastic," Walsh said.