“Show me a nation… that welcomes the world with open arms,” Canadian Tire recently asked the country in the first of a series of Olympic spots. The answer to this poignant question appears to be answered in its next phase, where the retailer tells the short story of a South Asian child, showing how Canada, as a nation, can stand a little taller.

In the newest spot from Cleansheet Communications and Partners Film, the boy is seen trying to get into a game of baseball while being heckled for being the new kid on the block. We watch as he fails, and then succeeds by bringing his own brand of a sporting action into the game.

He reveals his secret to hitting the ball out of the park while making friends with the same kids who gave him a hard time for being different. The idea is to bring Canadians together, no matter their differences, and to have the entire nation #StepUpStandTall (the hashtag being used in the retailer’s Olympic platform for the 2016 Rio Games, which launched with a series of anthemic ads that focus “on the values of sportsmanship and selflessnes,” Eva Salem, VP, strategic marketing at Canadian Tire, told strategy when the campaign launched last month).

Credits:

Advertiser: Canadian Tire
Creative agency: Cleansheet Communications
Production: Partners Film
Director: David Harner
Editing: School Editing
Editor: Ryan J. Hunt