CALGARY - A $2 reusable shopping bag from Canadian Tire has become an unlikely collector’s item, after a candid photo of Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams carrying one sent fans across Canada scrambling to stores.
“When I saw the picture, I thought, ‘I’m going to go first thing in the morning because I want to make sure it’s not sold out or anything,’” said Melanie Wilkinson, a fan from Saskatchewan.
The photo featured Williams and co-star Connor Storrie, who play rival-professional-hockey-players-turned-secret-lovers in the Canadian drama on Crave, a show that has developed a devoted international following.
Within days, many Canadian Tire stores had sold out of the reusable bags.
“The last few days have represented 30x the number of bags we typically sell,” Canadian Tire said in a statement to CTV News.
Marketing strategist Dru Anne Neil said she knew almost immediately the photo had the potential to spread far beyond the show’s fan base.
“I immediately recognized that this could be a national, if not international event,” she said.
Neil said the viral moment was the product of a series of fortunate circumstances.
“It was everything from timing… it was a weekend, it was at night, people were browsing their phones…” she said. “Hudson Williams happened to need some paper towel apparently, and Canadian Tire was open. Certainly, Canadian Tire is an iconic Canadian brand.”
Neil said Canadian Tire also struck the right tone in responding to the unexpected attention.
“They didn’t exploit the situation to try to increase sales. They just rode it,” she said. “I think that was important too, because people will see through that.”
For Wilkinson, the tote has become something official merchandise could not.
“The official merchandise sold out really fast. So, it was so disappointing,” she said. “And then, you know, when the fleece (jacket) came out, I was super excited, like, ‘I’m going to get it this time,’ but it was very expensive.”
Instead, she said, the Canadian Tire tote has become an unofficial piece of Heated Rivalry memorabilia.
“It’s exciting that we can actually get something, even though it’s not part of the show, as far as we know. It’s still that connection to the characters and to the actors.”
The excitement has spread well beyond Canada’s borders.
British Columbia resident Kelly Mackenzie said fellow fans from around the world have been trying to get their hands on the bags.
“I’ve had three people reach out to me from Denmark asking if I can mail them one,” she said.
Mackenzie plans to hide several bags during an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. and creating a scavenger hunt for fellow fans.
“I’m going to post them on my Threads, and if people see them, they can go and get them,” she said.
“If we can add whimsy and joy to someone’s life with a bag, you know what’s stopping us? And it’s the Canadian thing to do, to share.”
Canadian Tire said stores that have sold out of the reusable totes will be restocked shortly.
Heated Rivalry is a Crave original series. Crave, CTV News and CP24 are owned by Bell Media, which is a subsidiary of BCE Inc.
