The text came into the office to an unnamed recipient, from an unnamed source shortly after midnight on Wednesday, April 1. “Check out The Heart of Vancouver Island on Facebook RIGHT NOW”, it said.
So we checked it out. “Come get lucky—Visit the Alberni Valley,” the page stated, hawking the “unique municipal brand” and “partnership” with Lucky, the beer that Cumberlanders are famous for drinking.
In amongst a photo gallery of a couple kissing, some cans of Lucky on the beach and a picture of Mayor Mike Ruttan’s head on someone else’s body that I will never be able to unsee, was a link to the new “branding”: comegetlucky.com. The tagline: Mountains. Ocean. Rivers. Forest. Seriously friendly locals.” A slick advertising campaign, right?
After a flurry of excitement in the newsroom, I pointed out the date to the unnamed recipient.
Now tell me: did you “get Lucky” in the Alberni Valley too?