Tostitos Promo with Mike Bullard 1999

 Mike Bullard (1957–2024) was a Canadian comedian and broadcaster best known for hosting Open Mike with Mike Bullard, the country's first successful late-night talk show. Born in Etobicoke, Ontario, Bullard began his career as a police officer and later worked at Bell Canada while performing stand-up comedy part-time. His comedic talent led to the launch of Open Mike in 1997, which aired on CTV and The Comedy Network until 2003, earning high ratings and Gemini Awards. He then hosted The Mike Bullard Show on Global, though it was short-lived. Beyond television, Bullard hosted the radio show Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard on CFRB from 2010 to 2016. In 2022, he volunteered in Ukraine during the Russian invasion, assisting with humanitarian efforts. Bullard passed away from a heart attack in October 2024 at the age of 67, leaving a lasting impact on Canadian comedy and broadcasting.

Midas Muffler Commercial 1999

 Commercial for Midas Muffler as broadcast in 1986

Midas, Inc. is an American chain of automotive service centers headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In its North American main and home market, Midas stores are company-owned or franchised. In the 17 other countries it operates in, the service centers are either licensed or franchised. Midas is one of the world’s largest providers of automotive services, offering brake, maintenance, tires, exhaust, steering and suspension services at more than 2,000 franchised, licensed and company-owned Midas shops in 13 countries, including nearly 1,300 in the United States of America and Canada. Midas also owns the SpeeDee Oil & Auto Service business, with more than 150 auto service centers in America. 

In April 1956, Midas, an acronym of Muffler Installation Dealers' Associated Service, was established by Nate H. Sherman and the first Midas Muffler opened that year in Macon, Georgia. The chain was originally known as Midas Muffler as they specialized in the replacement of mufflers. In recent years, they have marketed themselves as Auto Service Experts, as they are capable of performing most routine and common automobile service, including brakes, fluid changes, and suspensions. The name is derived from King Midas and his golden touch, hence the slogan "Trust the Midas touch".

Midas was acquired by TBC Corporation in 2012.

Natrel Commercial 2000

 Natrel is a Canadian dairy co-operative based in Montreal, Quebec. Natrel was formed in 1990 as the dairy subsidiary of the Agropur agricultural cooperative, headquartered in Longueuil, Quebec. The brand provides Canadian milk without antibiotics, and artificial growth from Quebec to Canada's western provinces. 

Nicoderm Commercial Early 2000s

 Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is a medically approved way to treat people with tobacco use disorder by taking nicotine by means other than tobacco. It is used to help with quitting smoking or stopping chewing tobacco. It increases the chance of quitting tobacco smoking by about 55%. Often it is used along with other behavioral techniques. NRT has also been used to treat ulcerative colitis. Types of NRT include the adhesive patch, chewing gum, lozenges, nose spray, and inhaler. The use of multiple types of NRT at a time may increase effectiveness.

Pepto-Bismol Commercial 2000

 Bismuth subsalicylate, sold generically as pink bismuth and under the brand names Pepto-Bismol and BisBacter,  is an antacid elixir medication used to treat temporary discomforts of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract, such as nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea.

OLN (Outdoor Life Network) Promo 2000

 OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media that primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences.

The channel was launched on October 17, 1997 by Rogers, Baton Broadcasting and Outdoor Life Network in the U.S. with the "OLN" name licensed from Camden Media, owners of the Outdoor Life magazine brand. Rogers took sole ownership of the channel in 2008 and its original format was largely abandoned in recent years.

AOL Commercial 2000

 AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc..

The service traces its history to an online service known as PlayNET. PlayNET licensed its software to Quantum Link (Q-Link), who went online in November 1985. A new IBM PC client launched in 1988, eventually renamed as America Online in 1989. AOL grew to become the largest online service, displacing established players like CompuServe and The Source. By 1995, AOL had about three million active users.

AOL was one of the early pioneers of the Internet in the mid-1990s, and the most recognized brand on the web in the United States. It originally provided a dial-up service to millions of Americans, as well as providing a web portal, e-mail, instant messaging and later a web browser following its purchase of Netscape. In 2001, at the height of its popularity, it purchased the media conglomerate Time Warner in the largest merger in U.S. history. AOL rapidly shrank thereafter, partly due to the decline of dial-up and rise of broadband AOL was eventually spun off from Time Warner in 2009, with Tim Armstrong appointed the new CEO. Under his leadership, the company invested in media brands and advertising technologies.

On June 23, 2015, AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications for $4.4 billion. On May 3, 2021, Verizon announced it would sell Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for $5 billion.

Harlequin Romance infomercial Early 2000s

 Harlequin Enterprises ULC (known simply as Harlequin) is a romance and women's fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1949. From the 1960s, it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world.

Based in Toronto since 1969, Harlequin was owned by the Torstar Corporation, the largest newspaper publisher in Canada, from 1981 to 2014. It was then purchased by News Corp and is now a division of HarperCollins. In 1971, Harlequin purchased the London-based publisher Mills & Boon Limited and began a global expansion program opening offices in Australia and major European markets such as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Netherlands and Scandinavia

Sears Commercial Early 2000s

 Ad for Sears Canada in their 50th anniversary year in 2002

Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail-order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. 

In 2016, Sears Canada had a network that included 140 corporate stores (including full-line, Sears Home, and Sears Outlet stores), 71 Hometown stores, over 900 catalogue, and online merchandise pick-up locations, 69 Sears Travel offices, and a nationwide repair and service network. The company also published a general merchandise catalogue until the last quarter of 2016 and offered shopping online at sears.ca until October 19, 2017.

After filing for creditor protection in June 2017, Sears Canada announced it would close 20 full-line locations, 15 Home stores, 10 Outlet stores, and 14 Sears Hometown stores. The closings resulted in 2,900 employee layoffs. These stores officially closed on Sunday, October 1, 2017.[10] In September 2017, Sears Canada announced the closing of 10 additional stores, in addition to the 59 store closings previously announced in June. On October 10, 2017, Sears Canada announced that it would seek court approval to shut down all of its remaining stores in Canada and lay off 11,240 remaining staff. Liquidation sales began on October 19, 2017. The remaining Sears stores closed on January 14, 2018. 

I'll be honest, I do miss Sears

"Come to Sears and see"

Orville Redenbacher Commercial Early 2000s

 The man that The New York Times described as "but for all his bumpkin appearance, the man with the signature white wavy hair and oversized bow tie was a shrewd agricultural scientist who experimented with hybrids" began his career selling fertilizer, but spent his spare time working with popcorn.

In 1951, he and partner Charlie Bowman bought the George F. Chester and Son seed corn plant in Boone Grove, Indiana. Naming the company "Chester Hybrids", they tried tens of thousands of hybrid strains of popcorn before settling on a hybrid they named "RedBow". An advertising agency advised them to use Orville Redenbacher's own name as the brand name. They launched their popping corn in 1970. In 1976, Redenbacher sold the company to Hunt-Wesson Foods, a division of Norton Simon, Inc. In 1983, Esmark purchased Norton Simon, which in turn was acquired by Beatrice Foods in 1984. In 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Beatrice with the goal of selling off businesses. In 1990, they sold the popcorn business and other old Hunt-Wesson businesses to agribusiness giant ConAgra.

Swiss Chalet Commercial Early 2000s

 Swiss Chalet is a Canadian chain of casual dining restaurants founded in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario. As of 2015, there are over 200 Swiss Chalet restaurants in Canada, Swiss Chalet is among the holdings of Recipe Unlimited, which also owns the fast-food chain Harvey's. Swiss Chalet and Harvey's franchises share many locations.

Swiss Chalet franchises include a variety of points of sale. The company's locations generally have an architectural alpine theme, a dining room, a take-out counter, and delivery. Some feature drive-thru windows while other locations in certain urban areas are only take-out counters and are more akin to fast food restaurants. The brand also has an online food ordering system. Recipe Unlimited retails signature Swiss Chalet sauce, gravy, and marinades (as powdered mixes) in Canadian supermarkets.

Winners Commercial Early 2000s

 Winners Merchants International L.P is a chain of off-price Canadian department stores owned by TJX Companies.

It offers brand name clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, fine jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. Products are at a 20-60% discount rate and the stores generally do not carry the same merchandise for an entire season. The firm does not sell online. Its market niche is similar to the American store TJ Maxx, and it is a partnered retailer to department stores HomeSense and Marshalls.

RONA Commercial Early 2000s

 Rona (stylized as RONA) is an American-owned Canadian retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Founded in 1939, the company operates a mixture of company-owned and franchised retailers under multiple banners, including Rona, its big box formats Rona Home & Garden and Réno-Dépôt, as well as smaller brands such as Rona Cashway, Marcil Centre de Rénovation, Moffatt & Powell and Dick's Lumber. In May 2016, American retailer Lowe's acquired Rona.

2003 PT Cruiser Commercial

 The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a retro-styled compact car manufactured and marketed internationally by Chrysler in 5-door hatchback wagon (2001–2010) and 2-door convertible (2005–2008) body styles—over a single generation, with an intermediate facelift for model year 2006.

Canadian Blood Services PSA 1999

 Canadian Blood Services is a non-profit charitable organization that is independent from the Canadian government. The Canadian Blood Services was established as Canada's blood authority in all provinces and territories except for Quebec in 1998. The federal, provincial and territorial governments created the Canadian Blood Services through a memorandum of understanding. Canadian Blood Services is funded mainly through the provincial and territorial governments.

Clarica Commercial 1999

In 2002, Sun Life combined its operations with Clarica Life Insurance of Waterloo, Ontario. Founded in 1870 as Mutual Life of Canada, Clarica was known as The Mutual Group before it went public in 1999. The former head office for Mutual Life Assurance Company at 227 King Street South in Waterloo became the home to Sun Life's Canadian operations, while a regional office and Sun Life's corporate headquarters remained in Toronto. The company also maintains regional offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary. After it integrated operations, the company used the Clarica brand name for certain products and activities until 2007.

Becel Margarine Commercial 1990s

 Becel is a brand of margarine produced by Dutch company Upfield. In France, it is sold as Fruit D'or and in the United States as Promise

Fox Sports World Canada 2003

 Fox Sports World Canada was a Canadian subscription television channel. The channel's programming primarily featured soccer and covered other world sports such as rugby. Although its original Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) license called for Fox Sports World Canada to carry soccer, cricket and rugby as their core sports, cricket and rugby matches almost disappeared from the channel after the first few years. Fox Sports World Canada's flagship program was the Fox Soccer Report, which comprised most of its Canadian content.

The channel officially shut down on April 30, 2012, while its license was officially revoked on April 19, 2016, nearly four years after the channel went off the air.

Extreme Sports Channel 2003

 The Extreme Sports Channel is a pay television channel that was launched from Amsterdam on 1 May 1999. The channel broadcasts in over 60 countries and 12 languages, and covers extreme sport and adventure sports which include surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, BMX, mountain biking, FMX, music, gaming and fashion.

Goodnights Underwear Commercial 2006

From 2006 #Goodnights #commercial #2000s

Sprint Commercial with Candice Bergen 1999

 Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.

In July 2013, a majority of the company was purchased by the Japanese telecommunications company SoftBank Group. Sprint is no longer trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Sprint currently uses CDMA, EvDO and 4G LTE networks, and formerly operated iDEN, WiMAX, and 5G NR networks. Sprint was incorporated in Kansas.

Sprint traced its origins to the Brown Telephone Company, which was founded in 1899 to bring telephone service to the rural area around Abilene, Kansas. In 2006, Sprint left the local landline telephone business and spun those assets off into a new company named Embarq, which later became a part of Lumen Tech (formerly CenturyLink), which remains one of the largest long-distance providers in the United States.

Until 2005, the company was also known as the Sprint Corporation, but took the name Sprint Nextel Corporation when it merged with Nextel Communications and adopted its black and yellow color scheme, along with a new logo. In 2013, following the shutdown of the Nextel network and concurrent with the acquisition by SoftBank, the company resumed using the name Sprint Corporation. In July 2013, as part of the SoftBank transactions, Sprint acquired the remaining shares of the wireless broadband carrier Clearwire Corporation, which it did not already own.

On April 1, 2020, Sprint Corporation completed their merger with T-Mobile US which effectively made Sprint a subsidiary of T-Mobile until the Sprint brand was officially phased out. Leadership, background, and stock changes happened immediately, with customer-side changes happening over time. The Sprint brand was officially discontinued on August 2, 2020. Billing was already showing the T-Mobile brand, and on this date all retail, customer service, and all other company branding switched to the T-Mobile brand. New rate plans were also introduced as well for all new and existing customers from both companies, though all will be grandfathered into their current plan for at least 3 years should they choose not to switch to a new T-Mobile plan

Hakim Optical Commercial 2003

 Karim Hakimi, a native of Iran, learned to make lenses from old window glass as a child. After a stint in the navy, Hakimi worked in the optical industry in Switzerland. He then migrated to Canada and opened an optical laboratory in the former Elmwood Hotel (now the Elmwood Spa) in downtown Toronto, Ontario. He bought and rebuilt old equipment from a closed-down lab in Chicago. After making a variety of lenses, he began selling them to local optometrists. He soon began selling lenses directly from the Elmwood location.

In 2016 it had about 160 stores.

Our Daily Bread Commercial 2003

 Our Daily Bread is a devotional calendar-style booklet published by Our Daily Bread Ministries (formerly RBC Ministries) in over 55 languages. The booklet is one of the most widely read Christian devotionals in circulation today. It was first published in April 1956, and includes writing about the Bible and insights into Christian living. The booklet's title originates from a line of the Lord's Prayer.

The contents include a Bible passage, and a relevant article for each day of the year. It is written by a different author each day, and also features additional Bible passages for people following Our Daily Bread's "Bible In One Year" reading program.

Kool Countdown Commercial 2002

 Launched in 1947 as CFRA-FM, simulcasting the programming of its AM sister station. In 1959, the station began airing some separate programming.  Two years later, in 1961, the station's programming became fully independent of CFRA's, and the station adopted the callsign CFMO. CFRA and CFMO were subsequently acquired by CHUM Limited in 1968.

The station's MOR/Beautiful Music format included an unwavering diet of traditional artists such as Bing Crosby, Mantovani, Peggy Lee, Ronnie Aldrich, the Somerset Strings, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, The Carpenters and others of the same genre.

As the 1990s began, CFMO begins moving toward soft adult contemporary, playing more contemporary music and fewer instrumentals. CHUM dropped the longtime easy listening format on August 28, 1992, adopting the CKKL-FM calls and the brand name Kool FM for its new Hot AC format. The first song was Time, Love & Tenderness by Michael Bolton. The CFMO calls and format were picked up by CHEZ-FM Inc., and adopted on what is now CKBY. During their Hot AC days, they aired mostly contemporary hits during the evening hours (in large part due to CRTC regulations banning FM stations for having more than 50% of hit material on their playlists to protect AM stations and French-language stations), as well as the dance music show "Pirate Radio" with Chris Sheppard on Saturday nights. During the 1990s, CKKL competed against Top 40 stations CKTF-FM (which airs in French) and AM station Energy 1200 (which aired in English). Station liners during this time promoted "Hit Music on FM", directly targeting Energy 1200 listeners. After "Energy" flipped to alternative rock in 1997, CKKL was considered the default English-language hit music station in Ottawa. By February 2003, when CIHT-FM (now a CHR station) launched with its rhythmic contemporary format, CKKL completely shifted to CHR.

On May 31, 2003, at 9:39 AM, CKKL-FM dropped its CHR/Top 40 format, and began stunting with the audio from the movie What About Bob?. After the movie aired, snippets of music played, with "Bob FM" launching at Noon that day, adopting the adult hits format. The first song on "Bob" was I Want A New Drug by Huey Lewis and The News.

In 2007, CTVglobemedia bought CKKL-FM along with the other CHUM Limited properties. In 2011, Bell Canada acquired CTVglobemedia, renaming the company as Bell Media.

On November 10, 2014, Bell Media announced that the "Bob FM" format would be discontinued, citing changing "market conditions" and the need to "pursue a new opportunity". All of the station's on-air talent, including Cub Carson, were laid off, and the station began airing blocks of music punctuated by promos announcing an impending relaunch. Its website referred Bob FM listeners to the online stream of sister station CJPT-FM. On November 12, 2014 CKKL flipped to country as New Country 94, launching with a marathon of 10,000 songs played commercial-free.

On May 28, 2019, the station was renamed Pure Country 94 as part of a nationwide rebranding.

Massive Soca Explosion Commercial 2002

 Soca stands for "soul of calypso," and it was pretty much invented in the 1970s by Trinidadian artist Lord Shorty, who claimed that the soul of calypso was as multicultural as his island's African and East Indian descendants. To set this post-colonial hybrid to music, Shorty sped up calypso and gave it an Indian twist.

Global Entertainment Update - Early 2000s

 The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CTV, and has fifteen owned-and-operated stations throughout the country. Global is owned by Corus Entertainment — the media holdings of JR Shaw and other members of his family.

Global has its origins in a regional television station of the same name, serving Southern Ontario, which launched in 1974. The Ontario station was soon purchased by the now-defunct CanWest Global Communications, and that company gradually expanded its national reach in the subsequent decades through both acquisitions and new station launches, building up a quasi-network of independent stations, known as the CanWest Global System, until the stations were unified under the Ontario station's branding in 1997.

Dominos Pizza 1994

 Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is a Michigan-based multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware-domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor Township, near Ann Arbor, Michigan. As of 2018, Domino's had approximately 15,000 stores, with 5,649 in the United States, 1,500 in India, and 1,249 in the United Kingdom. Domino's has stores in over 83 countries[9] and 5,701 cities worldwide.

Much More Music Commercial Early 2000s

 M3 was a Canadian English language Category A cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Bell Media. Established in 1998 as MuchMoreMusic, the network began as a spin-off of the youth-oriented MuchMusic, targeting an older demographic with adult contemporary and classic music videos, along with music news programs, concert specials, and pop culture programming (usually sourced from the U.S. network VH1, which shared a similar positioning).

Under Bell ownership and its final branding as M3, and following the lead of its parent network, the channel adopted a general entertainment format and largely phased out its remaining music programming. On September 1, 2016, M3 was shut down and replaced under its license and most channel allotments by Gusto.

Selsun Blue Commercial 1994

 Selsun Blue is an over-the-counter brand of dandruff shampoo now owned by Sanofi. First made by Abbott Laboratories, the brand was bought by Chattem in 2002. Chattem was acquired by Sanofi in 2010, although in some markets, it is sold by Rohto Pharmaceutical instead. Selsun Blue has been marketed as a more effective alternative to brand leader Head & Shoulders due to its superior performance in randomized trials.

The Gods Must Be Crazy II Commercial 1990

 The Gods Must Be Crazy II is a 1989 comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys, and a sequel to the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy, which Uys also wrote and directed. An international co-production between South Africa, Botswana and the United States, it was produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group and released by 20th Century Fox on 13 October 1989. In the United States, it was released by Columbia Pictures on 13 April 1990.

Molson Canadian Commercial Early 2000s

 The Molson Brewery is a Canadian brewery and beer company in Montreal formed in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.

Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operations at the site of Molson's first brewery located on the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal.