Kraft Canada has partnered with CBC to integrate its Hockeyville program into an upcoming episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie.

The Jan. 18 episode of Little Mosque will see Mercy, its fictitious Saskatchewan town, lobbying to win the Hockeyville competition.

A press time, 340 towns and cities nationwide had thrown their hat in the rink (399 real towns plus Mercy), by making the case that they have "the strongest passion for hockey in Canada." The top prize is a $100,000 upgrade to a local arena and the hosting of an NHL pre-season game, as well as being featured on CBC's Hockey Night In Canada.

Mercy's submission includes photos of characters and their explanations why Mercy should win.

Sandra Cifersons, director of consumer communications at Kraft, said the product integration opportunity arose when Kraft's media agency, MediaVest, sat down with CBC during the renewal negotiations for Hockeyville.

"[CBC's] mandate is now to basically look for unique programing opportunities and brand integrations," Cifersons said. "We were basically trying to evolve [Hockeyville] to the next level and make it a bigger opportunity for us."

The concept is also meant to generate and maintain awareness during the Vancouver Olympics, which is being vigorously promoted at the same time.

"We needed to break through and ensure that Kraft Hockeyville didn't get lost in the period between our nominations and the Olympics," Cifersons said.

Kraft and MediaVest found success with a similar project last year when they worked with CTV and its program Corner Gas to integrate Cheez Whiz into an episode. The effort won Best in Show honours at Marketing's Media Innovation Awards in November, while CBC was also named Marketing's Media Player of the Year partly for similar integration campaigns for TD Bank on shows like Being Erica and Heartland.

When asked if Kraft is looking to expand its product integration projects, Cifersons said, "I think every advertiser is. We had some great success with the Cheez Whiz program and Corner Gas. We're looking to do that in an ongoing way, but it needs to have relevancy and be at a manageable cost. It needs to elevate the consumer experience."