Believe it or not, today is National Toast Day. And on this special day, Gay Lea Foods is urging Torontonians to take a moment in the fight against ‘toast brutality.’

In a mini campaign designed to promote the brand’s ‘Spreadables’ butter product – and to encourage donations to the Daily Bread Food Bank – street teams took to Toronto streets today with picket signs urging people to ‘Stop Toast Brutality.’

MiC caught up with the brand at Union Station this morning, where a Gay Lea team was ‘picketing’ and giving out Spreadables butter samples and coupons. With a full strike-like attitude in effect, the group was garnering its fair share of attention as thousands of commuters poured out of the Go Train terminal and onto the streets. The street teams will be out across Toronto throughout today promoting the toast stunt.

The campaign is being supported with a media execution, handled by Bang Media with creative by John St. and PR by Harbinger Ideas (all of Toronto), that includes a billboard on the Gardiner Expressway, ads in Metro and 24 Hours and an online banner buy with Metro and CP24.The media will be in place until the first week of April.

The hub of the campaign is a microsite, SavewithSpreadables.com, which asks people to ‘make a difference’ in the plight of toast and the ‘negative impact of hard butter’ by sponsoring a piece of toast. For every toast sponsored, Gay Lea will donate a tub of Spreadables to the Daily Bread Food Bank. As of press time, the website had generated 488 donations.

The vibe in Union Station at 8:30 this morning was positive, and when MiC stopped by and spoke with Bernard Yeung, assistant product manager, foodservice and retail marketing, Gay Lea Foods Co-operative, he said he was more than pleased with how the promotion was going.

‘It’s fantastic,’ he said. ‘If you saw the expressions on people’s faces, it’s great. People keep stopping by and asking us ‘There’s actually a National Toast Day?’ And we’re sampling and giving out butter, so they’re loving that too.’