Amaar Rashid, resident imam in the town of Mercy, SK., felt that in addition to the often-visited local mosque, church and Fatima’s Café, the community needed a new hangout.
‘I couldn’t help but feel that something – or somewhere – was missing from our small prairie town. And then it dawned on me: the people of Mercy needed an arena,’ writes Rashid on CBC’s Kraft Hockeyville 2010 website, where he entered Mercy for a chance to win a $100,000 arena makeover, courtesy of Kraft Canada.
Rashid, of course, is a character on CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, and his fictional entry, to be followed with a video ‘made’ during a Little Mosque episode on Jan. 18, is the latest example of the network’s focus on brand integration. The collaboration was also a way to keep the competition fresh, according to Jim Kozak, senior manager, consumer promotions at Kraft Canada. Now in its fifth year, last year’s contest for the reality TV series had more than 7,100 entries, nine million votes and 330 million media impressions.
Media and sponsorship for the annual contest were arranged by Mediavest, with promo creative by MacLaren Momentum. In-store promotions will end in March after the nominations close.
The winning community gets to host a pre-season 2010/2011 NHL game in their new arena, while the four runners-up each get $25,000 for arena upgrades. Fans can join the Facebook fan page, follow @hockeyville on Twitter or upload videos to the show’s YouTube channel. The top 12 communities will be profiled on a special airing of Hockeyville on March 15.