Blue Jays Snapping Playoff Drought is Good for Nation Branding

Toronto Blue Jays finally snapping their MLB-leading playoff drought (not having appeared since 1993) is not only good for that city and their long suffering fans, but also for Canada as a nation. It’s part of brand building.

Don’t think that is important? R.E.S.P.E.C.T is a valuable commodity, and it is awfully scarce for Canadians south of the 49th parallel where most Americans think their neighbors to the north are rubes who live in a boring and cold country where nothing of interest ever happens.

If Americans think Canadians can compete, and the place is sort of hip, that’s good for not only for boosting tourist traffic, which is woefully disproportionately tilted in favor of the US, but also Canadian exports of goods, services and information (books, films, television, art, music, research etc).

Also, happy people make more positive investment and consumption decisions.

So if a Canadian-based team could please finally win a world series, a Stanley Cup and an NBA championship, Canada’s economy should rival anyone’s…

@ profbruce @ quantum_entity

postscript: I wrote a bit more about this here, Why Cheering for the Leafs Is … Unnatural in Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Montreal, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=852