Michael Buble talks Christmas, new Merry Berry Bublé flavour

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Michael Buble is getting into the holiday spirit in a brand-new way this year with his own line of Bubly sparkling water hitting stores this Christmas season.

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The Canadian crooner has been a pitchman for the brand since 2019, following a Super Bowl ad in which he jokingly tried to convince the company that it’s really spelled “Buble.” In the popular spot, the five-time Grammy winner was seen going to great lengths to emblazon his name on the cans, spray-painting a billboard and sneaking into stores with a marker as he scribbles out the y and changes it to an e.

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“People think I’m joking, but I would literally carry Sharpies and when I would go shopping with my wife, I would go to the cans and put an e on it,” he grins in a recent interview with Postmedia. “People would look at me and go, ‘Nah, that’s not him.’”

So Pepsi decided to reward his hard work with a new holiday Merry Berry Buble flavour that is available in stores this season.

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“I thought I was going to do one Super Bowl ad, which was a genius ad, and it turned out that it became this really fun and collaborative working relationship,” Buble, 48, says.

Merry Berry Buble is a mix of raspberries, blackberries and strawberries, and each can comes in a decked out in its own tacky holiday sweater that makes nods to the Burnaby-born singer. Pop-up stores in select malls across Canada will sell seasonal merch throughout the month of December.

Buble says he worked closely with Pepsi to ensure the ads, which included a Canada-specific campaign during the 2021 Super Bowl, reflected his style and personality.

“I’ve been lucky, because it’s not a normal thing when you’re working with a big company to have any chance at being collaborative with them,” he says.

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Now, during the holiday, Buble says his four children and wife Luisana Lopilato will get a kick when they see the tins with their name on it at the grocery store.

In the meantime, Buble, who also spoke about how much he enjoyed getting back out on the road and performing live on last year’s Higher tour, will be celebrating the 12th anniversary of his chart-topping Christmas album.

With his timeless renditions of I’ll Be Home For Christmas, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and many others, Buble says he isn’t surprised the record has become a listening favourite over the holidays.

“I took it seriously, and I had a lot of passion for these really well-crafted timeless songs,” he recalls of his approach to making the album. “I remember a friend walking into the studio and saying, ‘Oh, you’re making a Christmas album.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m making the Christmas album.’ That’s what it was.”

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Soon after its release in 2011, Buble became closely associated with the holiday, with the record returning to the top 10 in every December. This year, he opened 2023 at No. 1 on the Billboard U.K. charts. He even got his own Christmas special in 2021 with Michael Buble’s Christmas in the City, which featured appearances by Camila Cabello, Leon Bridges, Jimmy Fallon, Hannah Waddingham and Kermit the Frog.

“You can’t imagine how much it means to me that people invite me into their homes all over the planet. I get to be a big part of this beautiful holiday, every year,” he says.

At home, his favourite tradition is reading his kids — sons Noah, 10, and Elias, 7, and daughters Vida, 3, and Cielo, 1 — The Night Before Christmas and asking his children to think about the deeper meaning behind How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

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“I like asking my little ones, ‘Is the Grinch a bad guy or a sad guy?’ They say, ‘He’s a bad guy, papi.’ But by the end of the movie, they realize he just felt like he didn’t belong. They say, ‘Dad, he wasn’t a bad guy, he was a sad guy.’ And I say, ‘You’re going to find in life, the kids who are bullies or the people who aren’t kind at work, they’re not bad guys, just sad guys.’ I love being able to teach them those parables.”

As his holiday songs play throughout malls and and on radio stations this month, Buble, who has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, will be at home figuring out a way he can extend his musical dominance to another special occasion on the calendar.

“I’m popular throughout most of the year,” he says, breaking into a grin. “Valentine’s Day is my time too. So is Mother’s Day. Now I’m trying to take over Halloween. Is there a swinging version of Monster Mash I can do?”

[email protected]

X: @markhdaniell

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