In Canada, patio season is a big deal. And Jack Astor’s has found a clever solution to enable remote workers to “Patio like a boss” while the weather is still nice.
The Canadian restaurant chain and its creative agency partner, The Garden, launched the “Work From Patio” social campaign to encourage customers to ditch their sweatpants and instead take advantage of the chain’s famed patios. As an incentive, it’s created a soundproof pod where workers can even have meetings so their colleagues and bosses are none the wiser.
“We’re known for our vibrant patios, but with the behavioral shifts we’ve seen post-pandemic, we needed a new way to invite Canadians onto our patios that better fit into their new daily routines,” Anesie Johnson, vp marketing of Jack’s parent company Sir Corp., said in a statement.
“Not only is calling guests to ‘work’ from patio a timely, culturally relevant move, it’s exactly the type of irreverent, tongue-in-cheek behavior Jack’s is known for.”
The custom-built pod, designed to resemble a living room setting complete with a World’s Best Employee mug—that may or may not be filled with beer—will be traveling to Jack’s locations in Ontario based on followers requesting it at their local spot. The chain has also installed “Work From Patio” backdrops at each of its 37 locations.
“Knowing that we needed a campaign that would feel fresh over the four months of patio season, we wanted to create a moving activation to give people that extra push to check it out,” The Garden’s creative director, Lindsay Eady, added in the statement.
“Capitalizing on the popularity of soundproof work pods, we thought it would be unexpected and fun to bring one to Jack’s patios,” she added. “People have been using it, whether it’s employees duping their boss or sometimes vice-versa.”
The team isn’t new to tongue-in-cheek campaigns capitalizing on cultural moments. They’ve previously inserted themselves into a billboard beef between hometown hero Drake and Kanye West, and recently ran a contest for Palentine’s Day, in which bros feeling left out of the love holiday could win a bromantic meal of burgers and chicken tenders to enhance their male bonding over video games and beer pong.
Jack Astor’s latest campaign is being supported by a series of headline-driven OOH ads, in addition to digital and social posts on TikTok and Instagram all in the chain’s irreverent tone.
The success of the campaign will likely be measured by the number of times people get called out on Zoom for their backgrounds during meetings, or the number of awkward run-ins workers will have with each other—or their bosses.
