Western Civ

Canadian commercials can reveal an awful lot about Canadian identity. Using the commercials assembled here answer the following questions.

1. What are the various symbols used to explain Canadian identity?
2. Which of the commercials do you think were aired in the United States for the benefit of Americans?
3. What makes the commercials for Americans different than the commercials meant for Canadians?
4. Do you think that this use of symbols of Canadian identity is fair or honest? Do they really give you an idea of what being a Canadian is all about?
5. What would be a better symbol of Canadian identity?
   • (These flags may help.)
   • Dream up a symbol (picture, animal, or whatever) that completely and utterly original that symbolizes Canada.
   • Make a picture of that symbol using crayons, construction paper, a computer drawing, or whatever. Be prepared to present it to the class.

The image below is an example of what a symbol might be look like.
"The goose is a famous CANADIAN animal. It is in the shape of a maple leaf - the Canadian leaf. The goose has a RED tongue…Canada's national color. The design is simple, therefore if this symbol is used people would be able to recognize it and be like, "Whoa! That's a CANADIAN GOOSE AND A MAPLE LEAF AND A RED TONGUE! IT MUST BE CANADIAN!" So therefore this symbol is amazing." (Debbie Wiersema, copyright 2007)