Six lederhosen-clad members of ‘Team Heidi’ will appear at downtown Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square on March 1 to lead a hilarious product launch and sampling event. The braided lasses will hand out tubs of Nordica’s new single-serving, fruit-bottom cottage cheese.

They will also encourage all in attendance to doff their inhibitions and trot out their very best yodels or yak calls. The winner, as chosen by audience applause, will receive a NordicTrack Elliptical Trainer. Dubbed the ‘Embrace the Nordica Lifestyle’ contest, the humourous initiative is meant to coax Canadians into healthier lifestyle choices. The street elements are being handled by Toronto’s Harbinger Ideas agency.

‘It’s a fun, humourous and creative way for us to reach our target market,’ Janis Coburn, brand manager for Gay Lea Foods, the maker of Nordica Cottage Cheese, tells MiC.

Other components of the product launch, which targets health-conscious women 25-49, include: print ads created by Toronto’s John Street agency showing a variety of women sporting Heidi-style wigs engaged in a variety of Nordic-themed activities. They are currently appearing in both English and French women’s and lifestyle magazines.
Online ads were slotted on: MSN, Mochasofa.com, Chatelaine.com, Todaysparent.com, Glow.ca, Flare.com and Louloumagazine.com.

Radio ads featuring ‘Sven and Olga’ characters are running in six Ontario markets: Ottawa, London, Kitchener, Barrie, Windsor and Toronto.