think outside the flavour block

In 2025, Gay Lea sought our team out to create an advertising campaign for one of their brands, Bothwell—a Manitoba-based company that they had acquired a couple years back. They were seeking to establish Bothwell as a strong name within the deli cheese section in Canadian grocery stores, looking to garner a major share of market with their primary competitors. As such, they wanted a placement that felt fresh and fun, and would resonate with a burgeoning younger demographic of buyers.

Outside of working on digital creative, I was also responsible for working on the set design and prop design for the commercial shoot. I worked in tandem with our production house to create a kitchen set that looked like it would belong to a young professional couple who were inclined to hosting their friends for dinner parties. With the creative tag of “Think outside the block,” our primary directive was to fill the set with as many square and rectangular visual cues to help really bring the creative to life.

Beyond the set, I worked with our wardrobe stylist to compile and finalize the looks that each of our cast members would be wearing. This included putting together a number of moodboards and then sourcing specific items for each of them to wear, with two or three final looks pulled for each. The goal was to have each of the talent look as though they might naturally be wearing what they were outfitted in; again, we wanted to make it look hip and contemporary without feeling inauthentic.