The main reason for the success of the commercial, and subsequent campaigns that Molson has launched with the same theme, is that most Canadians can relate to them. A few of Joe's statements resonated with me.

In elementary school, my best friend and I had pen-pals [2]. I can't recall if we signed up independently to be put in contact with another girl in another place or if it was part of a school initiative. In any case, Allison's pen-pal was from the US and, in one of her first letters, she asked Allison some questions about Canada. One of the questions was related to whether we lived in igloos. No joke.

Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, my summer job consisted of working as a cashier in a souvenir boutique at a zoo in Quebec, close to the US border. Most of the visitors to the zoo were French-speaking and most of the employees of the zoo were French-speaking. Because children with two French-speaking (mother tongue) parents are obliged to attend French school in Quebec, where they are not taught any English prior to grade 4, many of my coworkers were uncomfortable speaking English and greeted customers with a smile and a big "Bonjour!". I followed suit since the clientele was largely French but quickly switched to English if the person standing on the other side of the counter responded to my "Bonjour" with a cringe and/or confused look and/or a feeble, mispronounced "Baun...jer". 

On one such occasion, I dropped the French and said "Hello sir, how are you today?". His jaw dropped. He smiled and exclaimed "You speak American!". No joke. 

I proceeded to get him up to speed in response to his questions: yes - I speak English, no - I'm not American, no - neither of my parents are American, yes - people in Canada speak English, no - French is only really common in Quebec, yes - this is Quebec, one of 10 Canadian provinces, yes - provinces are kind of like states... To which he said "Wow, Canada is so interesting. I wonder where I could find out more about it?". I referred him to his local library. He wasn't sure if he had one.

Canadians are not known for being very patriotic, at least not in the same sense that Americans (particularly in the red states) tend to be. For example, most Canadians don't hang the Canadian flag in, on, or around their house. The popularity of the Molson "I am Canadian" rant is also partly because Joe gave an unapologetic and patriotic voice to Canadians - a voice that Canadians rarely adopt themselves. Indeed, if you bump into a Canadian on the street, they are very likely to turn to apologize and you.

Happy Canada Day!