Subway Canada turns game day viewing habits into a 'Soup or Bowl' marketing opportunity
As Canadians swapped “working links” to streams of the big game across group chats, Subway Canada slipped into the conversation with a lookalike link of its own—redirecting viewers to a minimalist Twitch livestream and turning game-day behaviour into a marketing opportunity.
On game day, as Canadians circulated “working links” to live streams across group chats, Subway Canada introduced its own lookalike links—designed to mimic authentic streams through familiar naming conventions, platform cues and seamless access.
Instead of leading to the game, the links redirected viewers to live-streaming platform Twitch, where they encountered “Soup or Bowl,” a deliberately minimal livestream featuring a Subway soup and bowl on screen, with no commentary or production embellishments. The understated presentation reinforced the misdirect while remaining native to the streaming environment.
“This activation was built around real Canadian behaviour on game day—seeking out links, sharing them, and navigating an oversaturated media landscape,” said Denny Downie, head of marketing at Subway Canada. "By using Twitch as the destination and anchoring the experience in a deliberate misdirect, we were able to deliver a meaningful value moment, including 60% off a soup or bowl with the purchase of a footlong."
The campaign was seeded across Subway Canada’s social channels and supported by cultural publishers, allowing the links to spread organically through the same digital pathways used by viewers on game day. The effort reflects the brand’s broader strategy of focusing on culturally timed, earned-first activations that respond to real consumer behaviour rather than competing in high-spend, high-clutter advertising windows.
“It’s a demonstration of how insight driven creative can break through without relying on scale or spectacle,” added Downie.
