In March 2022, Canada surprised the world by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years. As an official sponsor of the event, Frito-Lay Canada celebrated the historic moment with a 360-degree campaign.

But in September (six months after the team qualified), Canada’s jersey maker, Nike, announced that they hadn’t had enough time to design a new kit for the team. Of the 32 teams in the competition, Canada would be the only one without a new jersey. Fans were furious, and even the Team Canada players protested by covering the Nike logo.

Frito-Lay, the official snack of the World Cup, saw an opportunity to help Canada in some way. But with only eight weeks before the tournament, what could we do?

With only eight weeks until the World Cup, we set out to give Canada the jersey that it deserved.

Frito-Lay Canada, the official snack of the World Cup, teamed up with Bauer to create a jersey specifically made for this moment. The “Made for the Moment” collection would be a first-of-its-kind collaboration, centering on a new unofficial jersey made for Canada, by Canada.

The jersey would be designed by 13 different artists from across the country, representing the 13 provinces and territories of Canada—from the shores of Vancouver to St. John’s. Together, the artists would design a jersey that celebrated the culture, nature and DNA of the country, telling the story of Canada through the artwork on the fabric.

And since soccer jerseys usually feature brand logos, we would put our name right next to Canada’s, showing our support for the country.

When Nike announced that Canada wouldn’t be getting a new jersey for the World Cup, social media erupted with complaints about the sponsor leaving Canada in the cold.

And this anger wasn’t just coming from fans. In a friendly game with Qatar, a Team Canada player made news by covering the Nike logo on his jersey, throwing shade at the jersey maker.

Frito-Lay Canada didn’t have any knowledge of jersey-making or the resources of a major sports brand. But we did have something just as strong: a Canadian community that was eager to help.

We started reaching out for help and found our way to Bauer, an iconic Canadian hockey brand. They had never made soccer apparel, but like us, they wanted to help. Together, we started hatching a plan.

Every element of the jersey had a meaning for Canada. The sleeves represented our coasts, with sailor-style tattoos featuring wildlife from the areas. Our multicultural diversity was represented on the lower front. And pinstripes on the back spelled “Love” in Canada’s indigenous Cree language. Even the Canada wordmark was in a retro font, a tribute to our last World Cup appearance.

The jersey launched on November 23, the same day that Canada played their first World Cup game, with wild postings, a film and a website to purchase the jersey.

We also opened an unofficial World Cup store in Toronto so fans could buy the jersey in person. The store featured Frito-Lay chip flavors from around the world and a customization station where you could personalize your jersey.

The store was open for three days, and after that, the jersey was available online until the World Cup ended.

In eight weeks we created what Nike couldn’t make in eight months.

The Unofficial Jersey was loved by Canadians, and news about it spread across social media with 98% positive sentiment. And even though the pop-up store was open for only three days and we had only a limited run of jerseys, our sales goals were exceeded by 146%.

The jersey was covered by media outlets in Canada and beyond, with Bloomberg calling it “a jersey made for this historic moment” and Fashion Network calling the jersey “a symbol of national pride that unites us all.”

And every dollar of the jersey sales went to the Remix Project, a charity helping level the playing field for marginalized Canadian youth.