Featuring inventive products to assist those who are feeling weaker than normal, The Weak Shop is opening its doors in Vancouver this week.

“The creation of The Weak Shop sub-brand marks a innovative approach to milk marketing," says Liz Gurszky, director of market development and communication, BC Dairy Foundation. “It’s bold, quirky, and talks to teens in an unusual way. Instead of preaching to teens about health benefits, we’re really driving home our point that milk gives you energy by showing the performance consequences of not drinking enough milk in an offbeat, teen-relevant way.”

BCDF, in partnership with its agency-of-record DDB Canada, and Rob Johnston, an award-winning industrial designer, developed a range of innovative products including: Chair Pants, Food Lift, Wallet Walker and more for The Weak Shop. Now available online, The Weak Shop is scheduled to open two Vancouver retail locations at 1058 Granville Street Oct. 15/09 and 530 Broadway Street later this fall.

“The Weak Shop takes the existing Must Drink More Milk creative platform to a whole new level," says Dean Lee, creative director, DDB Canada, Vancouver. "Our goal is to make milk a more socially relevant beverage choice and encourage consumption over sugary beverage alternatives whenever teens need to perform physically, mentally or socially,”

The Weak Shop is an inherently digital and social idea that can flow through multiple mediums in a teen’s life. To promote The Weak Shop, DDB Canada developed an integrated campaign that includes TV and online infomercials, digital pre-roll and print, online and out-of-home advertising. The Weak Shop also has a presence on various social media sites including Flickr and YouTube, and can also be followed on Twitter, and fans can join its Facebook page.

The idea for The Weak Shop and the humorous infomercials promoting it stemmed from recent research done on the BCDF’s current 'Must Drink More Milk' advertising.

The research showed that teens understand the long-term strength benefits of milk, but they don’t always grasp the short-term gain: the fact that milk gives you energy. This insight was creatively paired with a broader societal desire for short cuts, best exemplified by the explosion of gadgets and miracle tools featured in infomercials and stores.

“The Weak Shop will generate a lot of talk value among teens,” says Lee. “It’s a creative, entertaining approach that’s completely unexpected for milk. For teens especially, it keeps milk messaging really interesting and fun.”

Additional new products, including software and iPhone applications will be available later this fall.

BCDF is inviting people to submit their ideas that could be developed and added to The Weak Shop catalogue. The winner of the open-source product development contest will win a MacBook Pro with Adobe creative suite and will work with an industrial designer to develop their prototype and learn first-hand about the product development cycle. Weekly and monthly prizes will also be awarded.

The proceeds of all product sales from The Weak Shop will go directly to KidSport BC, a community based sport-funding program that provides grants for children to participate in a sport.