A fake ad from the cult film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is now appearing in Toronto in an “art imitating life imitating art” moment from TBWA and BMO.
The film has a pretty big cult following, and a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it just won six awards at the Canadian Screen Awards this past weekend in Toronto, including Best Motion Picture, Best Lead Performer in a Comedy Film, and Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film.
In the cult film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol accidentally travel back to 2008, creating an alternate timeline where Jay becomes “The BMO Guy,” appearing on a giant digital billboard in Toronto’s Sankofa Square.
BMO has made the fictional moment real.
From May 27 to June 3, BMO will “glitch” its digital boards in Toronto’s Sankofa Square, temporarily replacing its current spokesperson, Lamorne Morris, with Jay McCarrol, as if an alternate timeline is bleeding into this one. The campaign will also extend into the city through wild postings placed around key Toronto locations featured in the film, supported by influencer content and social amplification.
Fresh off winning six Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Lead Performer in a Comedy Film, and Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie has now spilled into real life in downtown Toronto.
It’s not every day a brand gets written directly into the plot of a cult movie, then decides to make the joke real in downtown Toronto.
The film picked up six Canadian Screen Awards this past weekend, including:
- Best Motion Picture
- Best Lead Performance in a Comedy Film (Jay McCarrol)
- Best Supporting Performance in a Comedy Film (Matt Johnson)
- Best Sound Mixing
- Best Visual Effects
- Best Original Song (“The Alphabet Song”)
