Dawn helped consumers in Yonge-Dundas Square Dine and Dish yesterday, serving free poutine in exchange for them cleaning their own plates with the dish soap.

The P&G brand set up its own poutinerie and kitchen in the downtown Toronto square and had John Catucci, the host of Food Network Canada’s You Gotta Eat Here, on-hand to dish out helpings of the iconic Canadian food.  Passersby could also get their pictures taken against a bubbly background in a branded photo booth.

The stunt, targeted primarily at women aged 30 to 50 was executed with help from Mosaic and MSL Group, while Starcom MediaVest Group handled the media buy supporting the event.

To drive awareness of the Dine and Dish event, the brand relied heavily on wild postings in Toronto and print buys in Metro and 24Hrs. It also used social media, creating a Facebook event and inviting fans, and employed the Twitter hashtag “#dishwithdawn” to get the conversation about the event going.

Yussef El Kalza, senior assistant brand manager, total home care, P&G, tells MiC that the event is the first of its kind for Dawn, and that it’s part of a strategy to support the brand’s sampling programs and traditional TV advertising.

He says it was important for the brand to get the product in the hands of as many consumers as possible, while giving them an experience that would actually make dish soap fun.

John Catucci was the perfect fit to help host the Dine and Dish event, he says,  because he’s well known on the food scene for his experience with trying messy foods.