As NBA playoff fever has spread across the GTA and beyond, companies, retailers and even government agencies have jumped on the Raptors-themed public relations bandwagon. Almost everywhere you look — on social media, TV, and in newspapers — businesses both private and public are expressing their love and appreciation for a team that has grown in confidence, talent and influence, much like Toronto itself has over the 23 years since the Raptors joined the league.On Thursday, McDonald’s Canada, a sponsor of the team, released an ad in which its famous golden arches are drained of the colour. “In support of the Raps, our arches are no longer in a golden state,” the company tweeted.Netflix Canada tweeted on Thursday night to its 314,000 followers “that if you’re watching Netflix tonight instead of the Raptor’s historic game 1, then you’re letting down all of Toronto, all of Canada and all of Drake.”Walk by the AGO and you’ll see its big letters wrapped in Raptors colours. And GO Transit has declared that until the end of the NBA Finals, the Quiet Zone on its trains is renamed the “Kawhi-it Zone.”But is all this well-wishing simple enthusiasm? Or are businesses using the opportunity to further their own brands by getting in on the excitement surrounding the Raps?Advertising executives and creative directors the Star spoke to say it’s probably a bit of both.Peter Ignazi, global chief creative officer at Cossette, Canada’s largest advertising agency and the one responsible for the recent McDonald’s ad, said there is plenty of genuine hype for what’s happening in Toronto right now.“I think that the marketers at these companies and the advertisers, they’re all fans and people who live in this city too,” he said.He noted, however, that businesses also have to make money and build long-term brand affinity. “It’s kind of an easy way to do it, to ...
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