Global PopStars Commercial 2003

 Popstars was an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the Idol franchise, Popstars first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl group TrueBliss. Despite all shows in the Popstars franchise having been off air in recent years, it remains one of the most successful TV show formats of all time with the format being sold to more than 50 countries, producing successful artists such as Girls Aloud that dominated the UK charts for the next ten years after winning. The show was the inspiration for Simon Fuller's Idols franchise.

Citypulse Newsflash Early 2000s

 Another news broadcast from Citytv as shown sometime in 2002

Wheat Thins Commercial 1995

 Wheat Thins is a brand of baked whole grain snack food crackers distributed in the United States and Canada by Mondelez International. The product is also available in Australia through wholesaler USA Foods. Vegetable Thins, Oat Thins, Pita Thins, and Rice Thins, which are all spinoffs of Wheat Thins, are available in Canada and some regions of the United States. Wheat Thins themselves come in many flavors and varieties. Nabisco first introduced the product in 1947.

2005 Chevy Cobalt Commercial

 The Chevrolet Cobalt is a compact car introduced by Chevrolet in 2004 for the 2005 model year. The Cobalt replaced both the Cavalier and the Toyota-based Geo/Chevrolet Prizm as Chevrolet's compact car. The Cobalt was available as both a coupe and sedan, as well as a sport compact version dubbed the Cobalt SS. Like the Chevrolet HHR and the Saturn ION, it was based on the GM Delta platform.

Flamboro Downs Commercial 2004

 Flamboro Downs is a half-mile harness horse racing track in Flamborough, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is also home to Flamboro Slots, which has a total of 808 slot machines.

The racetrack was founded in 1971 by Charles Juravinski and acquired in 2003 by Magna Entertainment. In 2005, it was acquired by the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

Baileys Irish Cream Commercial 2000's

 Baileys Irish Cream is an Irish cream liqueur, an alcoholic drink flavoured with cream, cocoa and Irish whiskey. It is made by Diageo at Nangor Road, in Dublin, Ireland and in Mallusk, Northern Ireland. It is the original Irish cream, invented by a team headed by Tom Jago in 1971 for Gilbeys of Ireland; the trademark is currently owned by Diageo. It has a declared alcohol content of 17% by volume.

The Sony Store Commercial 2002

 From a 2014 Verge article:

Sony has announced that it will shutter 20 of its 31 retail stores in the United States by the end of 2014. The move is an attempt "to further streamline costs and continue focus on existing partner relations." Essentially, Sony has realized it's wasting money and other resources by pumping them into its limited US retail presence — especially when most consumers either buy online at Amazon or head to other stores like Best Buy for the company's items. "While these moves were extremely tough, they were absolutely necessary to position us in the best possible place for future growth," said Mike Fasulo, president and COO of Sony Electronics in a press release.

The closures come as part of a large, wide-reaching attempt to restructure Sony into a smaller, more focused company. Sony previously announced that it intends to eliminate 5,000 jobs globally; 1,000 of those cuts will hit US workers by year's end. Six Sony Store locations have already been closed since the start of this year.

L'Oréal Commercial 1999

 In the early 20th century, Eugène Paul Louis Schueller, a young French chemist, developed a hair dye formula called Oréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then decided to sell to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July 1919, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France). The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became L'Oréal, were research and innovation in the field of beauty. In 1920, the company employed three chemists. By 1950, the team was 100 strong; by 1984 was 1,000 and was an estimated total of 85,252 in 2021 worldwide.

Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oréal headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group whose leader formed a political party Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in Occupied France supported the Vichy collaboration with the Germans. L'Oréal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as Jacques Corrèze, who served as CEO of the United States operation. Israeli historian Michael Bar-Zohar describes this in his book, Bitter Scent.

L'Oréal got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. L'Oréal currently markets over 500 brands and thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, hair styling, body and skincare, cleansers, makeup, and fragrance. The company's products are found in a wide variety of distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail.

Head and Shoulders Commercial Early 2000s

 Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti-dandruff and non dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble that was introduced in 1961.

By 1982, it was the "number one brand" of shampoo, and it was noted that "no one hair care brand gets so many ad dollars as Head & Shoulders, a twenty year old brand, and no other brand matches its sales", despite it being a "medicated" shampoo. The active ingredients are the antifungal agents selenium disulfide and piroctone olamine.

Since the 1980s, the brand has been marketed under the tagline, "You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression", which has been identified as an example of "anxiety marketing" commonly used by Procter & Gamble to drive sales by inducing fears of social consequences associated with the condition that the product claims to address. In the 2000s, however, sales were reported to have dropped off, blamed on overextension of the brand into too many varieties, with over 30 kinds of Head & Shoulders being sold.

Vachon Commercial 1990

 Vachon Bakery is a Canadian maker of popular snack pastries. Vachon was owned by Saputo Inc. between 1999 and 2015, and has been owned by Canada Bread since 2015.

Vachon was founded by Joseph-Arcade and Rose-Anna Vachon Giroux in 1923 when the couple left his home village of Saint-Patrice-de-Beaurivage to develop a bakery in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce in Quebec.

Brands include:

May West

Jos. Louis

Billot Log Jelly Rolls

Passion Flakie

Ah Caramel!

½ Lune Moon

Hostess (Canada only) - including Twinkies

Takis (Canada only)

2005 Saturn Ion Commercial

 The Saturn Ion is a compact car sold by Saturn between the 2003 and 2007 model years. It used the GM Delta platform. The Ion replaced the Saturn S-Series in 2002, and was replaced by the new Saturn Astra in 2008. Production of the Ion ended on March 29, 2007. The Ion was the last Saturn passenger car built at the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant which was originally linked to the company's branding, with Saturn owners attending "homecoming" events at the plant.

Old Milwaukee Beer Commercial 1993

 Old Milwaukee is a brand of American dry lager owned by the Pabst Brewing Company and consists of four different brews—Old Milwaukee Lager, Old Milwaukee Light, Old Milwaukee Non-Alcoholic, and Old Milwaukee Ice. Old Milwaukee is brewed throughout the USA and various packages are currently distributed in all 50 US states, many Canadian provinces, and in select international markets.

Philips Lady Shave Commercial 1993

 Philishave is the brand name for electric shavers, their spare parts and accessories manufactured by the Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care unit of Philips (in the U.S., the Norelco name is used instead). In recent years, Philips had extended the Philishave brand to include hair clippers, beard trimmers and beard shapers. Philips used the Philishave brand name for their shavers from 1939 to 2006.

The Philishave shaver was invented by Philips engineer Alexandre Horowitz, who used rotating cutters instead of the reciprocating cutters that had been used in previous electric shavers.

The shaver was introduced in 1939, though initial production was limited due to the outbreak of World War II (the production facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, was overrun by the German Army in 1940). After the war, a slightly improved version of the cigar-shaped single-head shaver was introduced. A more ergonomic egg-shaped single-head model was introduced in 1948 and was designed by US industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Global sales increased markedly after a double-head model was introduced in 1951. In 1952, production of shavers shifted from Eindhoven to a new production facility in Drachten, the Netherlands. Philips currently has two production centres for shavers: Drachten and Zhuhai, China. A triple-head model was test marketed in Australia and New Zealand in 1956, but would not be introduced globally until 1966. In 1980, Philips introduced the Lift & Cut Philishave shaver with lifters which pull whiskers slightly before cutting, allowing for closer shaves.

The brand name Philishave was phased out in 2006 so shavers now bear only the Philips name. Philips is now co-branding their shavers sold in the US as "Philips Norelco" in preparation of a phase-out of the Norelco name.

Philips have celebrated their 80th anniversary in the electric shaver business by marketing special 'Heritage Edition' shaver models reviving the Philishave brand.

Global TV ID Early 2000

 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.

Black and Decker Steamer Commercial 1994

 Black+Decker Inc. is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances, and fastening systems headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, where the company was originally established in 1910. In 2010, Black & Decker merged with Stanley Works to become Stanley Black & Decker. It remains as a wholly-owned subsidiary of that company.

Zellers Commercial Early 2000s

 Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931, it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC in 1978 before closing in 2013.

A series of acquisitions and expansions allowed Zellers to reach its peak in the 1990s, with 350 stores across the country in 1999. However, fierce competition by Walmart Canada and an inability to adjust to the increasingly volatile retailing industry resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s. At the same time, HBC's new owner NRDC Equity Partners was focusing on bolstering and re-positioning Zellers' sister chain, The Bay, with an upscale and fashion-oriented direction, and saw Zellers as a detriment to the turnaround.

In January 2011, HBC announced that it would sell the lease agreements for up to 220 Zellers stores to the US. chain Target for $1.825 billion. In turn, Target announced its intent to convert many of them to Canadian locations of Target, and re-sell the remainder to other parties such as Walmart Canada, resulting in their liquidation and eventual closure. While HBC retained 64 Zellers locations, it announced on July 26, 2012, that all of them would be liquidated and closed by March 31, 2013, due to their lack of profitability. After the chain ceased, HBC repurposed three Zellers-branded locations as liquidation outlets for The Bay (since renamed Hudson's Bay), with the last of those stores closed on January 26, 2020.

In August 2021, the Zellers brand was relaunched as a pop-up shop (store-within-a-store) exclusively at the Hudson's Bay store located in the Burlington Centre shopping mall.

Blyth Festival Commercial 2005

 Blyth Festival, is a theatrical festival, located in the village of Blyth, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the production and promotion of Canadian plays.

In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities available for community use. The Festival and the Centre contribute significantly to the economy of the village and to the tourism industry in Huron County.

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"

Pizza Nova Commercial 1993

 Pizza Nova, is a Canadian franchise chain of pizza restaurants headquartered in Scarborough, Ontario. The chain was founded on May 12, 1963, by a young family of Italian immigrants. The first restaurant was located in the eastern Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, on Kennedy Road near Lawrence Avenue, which currently operates under the name Nova Ristorante. There are more than 150 locations in Canada.

Future Shop Commercial 1993

 Future Shop was a Canadian electronics store chain. It was established in 1982 by Hassan Khosrowshahi. By 1990, the chain had become the country's largest retailer of computer and consumer electronics. In January 2013, the company operated 139 locations across Canada.

In November 2001, Future Shop was acquired by a similar American chain Best Buy. Although Best Buy began to establish Canadian locations under its own name following the purchase, it continued to operate the Future Shop stores as a separate chain. Even though many of the new Best Buy locations were in close proximity to existing Future Shop stores, the two chains were differentiated primarily by their in-store experiences.

On March 28, 2015, Best Buy announced the dissolution of the Future Shop brand and the closure of 66 of its locations. The remaining stores were converted to the Best Buy branding and format.

Pizza Pockets Commercial 1993

 McCain Foods was co-founded in 1957 by brothers Harrison McCain and Wallace McCain with the help of their two older brothers.

In their first year of production, the company hired 30 employees and grossed over $150,000 in sales. During the 1970s–1990s, the company expanded into additional prepared food markets including frozen pizza and vegetables.

As of 2017, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, and has over 20,000 employees and 47 production facilities in six continents. The company generates more than C$8.5 billion in annual sales.

Over Canada Promo 1999

 A promo for a Y2K special about Canada 

Shop Global TV 2004

 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.

2004 Dodge Ram Commercial

 In 1998, Dodge introduced the 4-door Quad Cab, which used smaller clamshell doors directly behind the main doors. This was the first extended cab pickup to have four doors. (The 2-door Club Cab remained available through 2002.) Other changes for 1998 included new rounded black plastic side view mirrors, new plastic fold-out towing mirrors, a revised interior, dual airbags, a chime replacing the buzzer for seat belts/door ajar/headlights, and a digital odometer. The OBD-II system was also standard, with a computer port near the driver's-side footwell and a code-checking system via the new digital odometer readout.

2005 Saturn Relay Commercial

 The Saturn Relay is a minivan that was made by General Motors. It was introduced for the 2005 model year, and was built alongside badge engineered variants, the Buick Terraza, the Chevrolet Uplander, and the Pontiac Montana SV6 in Doraville, Georgia.

2005 Chevy Uplander Commercial

 The Chevrolet Uplander is a minivan manufactured and marketed by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for model years of 2005-2009, replacing the Venture and the Astro. Marketed over a single generation, the Uplander was offered in short and long wheelbase variations — each with foldable and removable second and third row seating; a V-6 engine and 4-speed automatic transmission.

Heavily based on GM's predecessor minivans, the Uplander was initially marketed with those vehicles, the Venture and Astro. The minivan and its rebadged variants, the Saturn Relay, Buick Terraza, and Pontiac Montana SV6, were manufactured at GM's Doraville Assembly and were discontinued in 2008 when GM left the minivan market, ended production and closed the Doraville Assembly plant.

The Uplander was marketed in the United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico, and the Middle East.

Band-Aid Commercial

 Band-Aid is a brand of adhesive bandages distributed by the recently spun-off consumer health company Kenvue. Invented in 1920, the brand has become a generic term for adhesive bandages in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and others

Special K Commercial Early 2000s

 Special K is an American brand of breakfast cereal and meal bars manufactured by Kellogg's. The cereal was introduced to the United States in 1955. It is made primarily from grains such as lightly toasted rice, wheat and barley. Special K used to be marketed primarily as a low-fat cereal that can be eaten to help one lose weight.

Hoover Vacuums Commercial Early 2000s

 The Hoover Company is a home appliance company founded in Ohio, United States. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom; and, mostly in the 20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the Hoover brand name became synonymous with vacuum cleaners and vacuuming in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hoover North America was once part of Maytag, but was sold by Maytag's new owners Whirlpool Corporation in 2007 to Hong Kong multinational manufacturing company Techtronic Industries for $107 million. Hoover International had already split from Hoover North America in 1993, and was acquired by Candy in 1995, which was acquired by Haier in 2019.

In addition to producing floorcare products, Hoover was also an iconic domestic appliance brand in Europe, particularly well known for its washing machines and tumble dryers in the UK and Ireland, and also had significant sales in many parts of Europe. Today, the Hoover Europe brand, as part of the portfolio of brands owned by Chinese multinational home appliances company Haier remains a major player in the European white goods and floor care sectors in a number of countries.