Vancouver Canucks executives might urge businesses to put “Go Canucks Go” signs in their windows during the most promising Stanley Cup drive in the team’s 40-year history, but some companies are receiving mixed messages on how far their entrepreneurial enthusiasm can go.
“If you’re showing your support and enthusiasm for the team, from a team perspective, there’s no issues with that,” Canucks COO Victor De Bonis told Business in Vancouver an hour before his team faced off against the Boston Bruins to launch the Stanley Cup final.
“I would love every store window to have a ‘Go Canucks Go’ sign. Blanket the city.”
But some business managers say they’ve been unduly targeted by the National Hockey League’s (NHL) legal department for doing just that. League lawyers were not satisfied that Kingsway Honda in April removed a large Canucks logo and changed a sign to read “Go __nucks Go.”
General manager Doug Lum told Business in Vancouver that, on May 28, league lawyers also had Honda Canada tell him to put a blanket over a car emblazoned with the Canucks’ logo in his showroom.
De Bonis said the key is that businesses can’t go overboard by using visible signs of support for the team to boost sales.
He would not go into the “nitty gritty” of exactly what Kingsway Honda did to cross the line, but said the auto dealer’s attempts to associate itself with the Canucks went too far.
“We’re not paying anyone to put ‘Go Canucks Go’ on the buses any more than we pay anyone to put ‘Merry Christmas,’” TransLink spokesman Drew Snider told Business in Vancouver. “So many businesses are posting the Canucks logo, it’s almost as if they’re saying ‘Bite me, NHL.’”
De Bonis said he has no problem with TransLink buses alternately flashing the words “Go Canucks Go” with route names and numbers.
He also doesn’t mind if restaurant servers wear Canucks jerseys or if bar owners place a few Canucks flags around their pub.
However, the enthusiasm line might be crossed if the pub also has a flag outside.
“You have to be mindful that we have business relationships, and if it appears that folks are trying to take advantage of the situation to make money, we have to protect our relationships,” De Bonis said.
The hockey team has a preferred restaurant program that, curiously, team owner Francesco Aquilini’s PH Restaurants Ltd. is not taking part in.
PH Restaurants president Mike Cyr told BIV that his chain of 44 Pizza Hut franchises finds better value elsewhere – partly because Richmond-based competitor Boston Pizza (rebranded Vancouver Pizza for the duration of the playoffs) is involved in the program and has been a Canucks sponsor for more than a decade.
“Our grassroots local sponsorship at the minor sports level is really more valuable to us than sponsoring professional sports,” Cyr said. “We don’t have any access to the Orca logo or have rights to it. We just adhere to the rules and respect the relationship that the Canucks have with a competitor. We would hope that our relationship be respected if the situation were reversed.”
Other restaurateurs believe that paying more than $10,000 to be part of the Canucks’ preferred restaurant program is worth the cost.
Browns Restaurant Group’s chain of Browns Social House locations has boosted game-night sales significantly compared with last year, said marketing manager Cassidy Pepper.
Browns paid the Canucks partly in contra merchandise and partly in cash to be able to have:
- cardboard cards at tables with the Canucks logo that say Browns is a preferred restaurant;
- a banner ad on the Canucks’ website;
- access to last-minute Canucks tickets; and
- advertising exposure on an LED screen for one minute in each of the Canucks’ home games.
“There were a number of options of what we could have chosen from. It was sort of like a menu,” Pepper said.
“Because the Canucks are the biggest brand in town and getting awareness is a big goal of ours, we also opted to take part in social media campaigns.”
The Canucks tweeted to its more than 119,000 followers “I want to go to your restaurant with 7 friends to watch@VanCanucks play and have@brownsSH_ take care of the bill.”
Everyone who retweeted that phrase was then entered into a contest where the winner won gift certificates for a dinner for eight.
Browns is opening its 11th location in Brentwood June 7. It also plans to open a restaurant in Dawson Creek in two weeks and another location in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley this fall.