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Total Solar Eclipse 2024: A once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness the celestial event, and a great excuse to stick an Oreo on a doughnut and charge extra for it.
Driving the news: On Monday, the sun will disappear behind the moon for roughly four minutes, spanning parts of Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. People are excited, and the eclipse business is booming.
- Airbnbs along the eclipse’s path are selling like hotcakes, and retailers in Atlantic Canada told the CBC that special viewing glasses are literally flying off the shelves.
- Niagara Falls, one location considered to have the best possible viewing experience, issued a state of emergency last week in anticipation of the huge number of tourists.
Brands have also been getting really into it:
- Airlines like United and Delta are advertising eclipse-viewing flight paths, and Southwest also partnered with Omni Hotels for a “Solarbration” sweepstakes.
- Krispy Kreme created a limited-edition doughnut topped with an Oreo cookie (available in Canada), and SunChips will sell a limited quantity of new chip flavours.
- MoonPie is selling a $62 (assuming you’re shipping to Canada) Total Solar Eclipse Survival Kit, complete with four mini MoonPies and two pairs of eclipse glasses.
Why it matters: The last time the path of a total solar eclipse crossed Canada was 45 years ago, in 1979. The rarity of the event offers a boon for parts of the travel and tourism industry (which still haven’t recovered from the pandemic) and an excuse for brands to do fun things.
In Canada: Marketing tied to rare events isn’t new, but brands in Canada are known to be more wary about embracing gimmicks because Canadians like softer-sell and value-driven strategies — think Tim Hortons’s Smile Cookies and McDonald’s Summer Drink Days.—SB