After a nearly decade-long absence, Molson is reviving its I AM Canadian tagline for Canada Day.

“It’s a line that continues to live in the popular culture, as part of the brand’s identity and part of the legacy,” said Dave Bigioni, vice president of marketing at Molson Coors Canada. “We often get calls for merchandise and people looking for it.”

The popular campaign is best recalled for “The Rant,” an award-winning 2000 commercial which featured an everyman character crowing proudly about an identity that, contrary to sterotypes, didn’t involve living in an igloo, eating blubber or owning a dogsled.

“Canada is the second largest landmass, the first nation of hockey, and the best part of North America,” he declared. “My name is Joe and I am Canadian.”

The emotional spot by Toronto’s Bensimon Byrne D’Arcy sparked a patriotic fervor and helped drive Molson Canadian’s market share up by 1.5 percentage points to 18.5 per cent shortly thereafter, according to the company.

“Ultimately, the use of ‘classic’ marketing and creative can be very effective if, along with the brand, it is still relevant or meaningful to today’s target,” said Caroline Gianias, an executive with Aegis Media Canada.

The Rant, however, won’t be resurrected. Instead, the new 10-day campaign, which ends on July 1, consists largely of $1 million in promotional merchandise, such as red, boot-shaped collector beer mugs available at participating bars and restaurants and free I Am Canada t-shirts with select beer store purchases of cases of Molson Canadian.

After Canada Day, the company returns to the Made From Canada brand strategy its used since 2010.

The beer giant, which is no longer exclusively Canadian-owned following a 2004 merger with American brewing firm Adolph Coors Co., said the spot lives online and in marketing and advertising textbooks across the country.

To capitalize on that enduring affection, Molson-Coors has also just launched an online store where fans can purchase a wide array of items, from footwear to pet gear, with I AM Canadian branding.

Courtesy of Rethink, the company’s current ad agency, comes a new commerical “The Beer Fridge,” about a shiny red cooler that was planted in various European destinations this spring and could only be opened by someone inserting a Canadian passport. It ends with the I AM Canadian tagline.