It appears to happening more often than not: disgruntled Americans, disappointed by the results of their presidential election, turn with longing eyes to our Home and Native Land. It was no different this time around. On November 6, Google searches about moving to Canada soared (with related search terms hitting “breakout” status, a volume jump of more than 5,000%), especially in states won by Kamala Harris.

The Toronto Star saw an opportunity in this tradition. Soon after the election, the publication launched a campaign in USA Today aimed at antsy Americans, encouraging those curious about moving to Canada to become familiar with the country by subscribing to The Star. And so far, the strategy seems to be working.

“Some of the best creative captures a cultural moment. We were able to have the right message, at the right time, in the right channel to develop that emotional connection with our audience,” says Jordan Bitove, publisher of the The Toronto Star. “While it is top of the funnel awareness activity, we have seen a bump in our ever-growing digital subscriptions this week, and more from the U.S. than usual.”

According to Bitove (and Marshall McLuhan), the choice of media was an important component of the message. “I think what is interesting about this campaign is that it is print newspaper-led,” Bitove says. “Our focus at Torstar is digital, but there is still a role for print for readers, subscribers and advertisers.

“We also know through research that having advertising in a trusted news environment is good for advertisers as there is a halo affect and transference to the brand of that trust,” he adds. “So we wanted to run it in news outlets. We spoke internally about other options, like outdoor, but landed on print and news outlets, like USA Today, which turned out to be the right decision.”

Bitove says that because the campaign captures a cultural moment, the Star was able to be surgical about its media buy. “The strength of the creative and in a contextually relevant environment has created the impact that we were hoping for, so we have actually been able to scale back the media investment,” he adds. “But stay tuned as based on this success, we will be looking for other creative opportunities to tell the Toronto Star story beyond our Canadian borders.”

The Star isn’t the only brand capitalizing on Americans’ post-election angst. On its social channels, Westjet advertised “one-way flights to Canada.” According to the brand, the ad was met with overwhelmingly positive reactions: 7,000 likes and almost 1,000 comments on Facebook and Instagram in twelve hours.