In a play to raise company profile and possibly “catch” some Vancouver rioters, local spa brand eccotique Spas and Salons has launched a campaign to offer rioters gift certificates in return for confessions.
Eccotique is a brand of the Megahair Family in Surrey.
To claim a $50 “Calm Down and De-Stress” gift certificate for spa services, Stanley Cup rioters need to show photo ID and describe how they were involved in an illegal activity, such as looting, arson or an aggressive act.
The culprits then turn themselves into the police and once in possession of an official police arrest form, their gift certificate is activated.
A campaign slogan reads, “You didn’t pay for anything at the riots, why stop now?”
“We wanted to do something very creative and unique and different,” said eccotique president Milajne Soligo of the campaign.
“We thought, ‘Why not do this? This is kind of fun.’ Because these rioters obviously had a lot of pent up anger and frustration and we’re thinking, our spa offerings fit perfectly with calming people down.”
Despite the tongue-and-cheek aspect of the campaign, Soligo said the spa company does hope to catch some rioters.
“It’s certainly tongue-in-cheek, but I was at the Stanley Cup final game and was just totally disgusted after leaving the stadium and the ceremony, walking a little bit and seeing these plumes of smoke coming out in the centre of Vancouver. I was with a bunch of friends, and we were like, Oh Vancouver are you really here again?' This is so embarrassing.”
Milajne said the nearest eccotique location to the riot was in Burnaby, but its sister brand, Zennkai Salons has a store on Granville and Robson. Luckily, she said, the Zennkai location wasn’t targeted by rioters.
“I think they were one of only two stores on that block that didn’t get hit.”
