After Subway and Mexican Avocados, Leylah Fernandez is now the ambassador for a new advertising campaign focused on food. The Quebec tennis player, who also has many other sponsors and commercial partners to her credit, says she was touched by the concept proposed by Ritz Canada.
Especially because it reminded him of a fear he had when he was younger.
“I found that their values go hand in hand with my values because I grew up in Canada,” the Quebec tennis player said Wednesday. It was also an opportunity for me to tell my story and make a small difference.”
Available in an ad HereRitz talks about the “lunchbox moment” of several young students with a migrant background.
That is, that moment when they open their lunch box in the school cafeteria and the sight of these meals that are not “typically Quebecois” provokes negative comments from other young people.
Leylah, 21, met young Quebecers who she described as “very friendly” and “full of energy.”
“I hope I could encourage them to take food from home, be happy with it and be proud of their culture,” she said.
Fernandez’s parents come from the Philippines and Ecuador.
“I was very shy”
The player from Laval is also of Peruvian descent. Her grandparents arrived in Canada without speaking French, explains Leylah in the video, who herself speaks French, English and Spanish.
Leylah Fernandez in the Ritz Canada “Lunch Box Moment” advertising campaign, November 2023. From the “Lunch Box Moment” microsite.
“It happened to me a few times [d’être gênée de mon lunch], She said. When I was young, I was very shy. I didn’t like speaking in front of a class.”
“I was still very proud of bringing dishes from home, but sometimes I felt embarrassed because it was different.”
“Sometimes people would look at me and think I was weird.”