Boston Pizza marks easing COVID restrictions with tips on ‘how to patio’

Boston Pizza is publicizing a tongue-in-cheek refresher course on how to behave on a restaurant patio.

The campaign focuses on helping customers get their patio game on point by retraining them on the things they may have forgotten during lockdown.

The centrepiece is a 72-page online manual featuring articles and infographics on such things as protecting your beer from patio wasps, ordering from a real human server and pulling apart coasters.

Select customers will win a limited number of first-edition copies of the book through a competition running on Boston Pizza’s Instagram account. The ebook can be downloaded here.

“Sitting on the patio, enjoying the weather, a drink and some great food and the in-person company of friends are pastimes Canadians have universally been longing to return to. And we just want to make that return to a BP Patio a smooth and enjoyable one,” said James Kawalecki, vice-president of marketing at Boston Pizza.

The inventive campaign, created by john st. ad agency, includes TV spots, social media posts, radio ads, a phone hotline and “A Boston Pizza Patio Re-Training Video.”