Tim Hortons knits up some #WarmWishes as part
of its holiday campaign to "warm up" this northern community for
one unforgettable day
OAKVILLE, ON, Dec. 19, 2014 /CNW/ - With more than 17,000
Warm Wishes shared on social media so far, nearly 10,000 hats to be
donated to children in need, and over 2,000 blankets donated to a
Toronto shelter, Tim Hortons
spreads #WarmWishes one more time by creating the warmest Tim
Hortons in Canada – in one of the
coldest places: Fort Frances,
Ontario.
On December 11, 2014, the town of
Fort Frances was abuzz over the
mysterious "yarn bombing" of trees, mail boxes and even park
benches around town. Two days later, the good residents of
Fort Frances woke up to long
strings of red yarn all over town. Curious to unravel the woolen
mystery, people followed the trails of yarn, until they reached the
local Tim Hortons, where something magical had happened. The
restaurant was wearing a giant knitted toque and scarf, and the
inside was completely knitted over, top to bottom, in red and white
coverings. The tables, the chairs, and even the door handles, were
cozy and warm, and the coffee was on the house for the entire day.
#WarmWishes was brought to life, and it was all captured on
video.
"Our Warm Wishes campaign this holiday season has been all about
generosity and sharing warmth, so it was only fitting that we
celebrate the campaign with a gesture of warmth on a grand scale,"
said Peter Nowlan, Chief Marketing
Officer, Tim Hortons. "Fort
Frances is a small community that experiences bitterly cold
winters and the local Tim Hortons is a regular stop for many, so we
wanted to warm up their daily routine in a special, unexpected way.
This Warm Wishes transformation is one of many ways we have
surprised guests throughout the year. From building a replica of
our very first Tim Hortons restaurant at Toronto's Yonge-Dundas square to celebrate our
50th anniversary, to our Get Into The Dark Experiment in
Quebec, and our house-turned-Tim
Hortons restaurant in Calgary, we
have enjoyed celebrating with our guests and thanking them for
making Tim Hortons Canada's
favourite coffee."
The Fort Frances experience was
captured on video, which was released today. Tim Hortons is
encouraging fans to watch the video, share it and tag @TimHortons
with #WarmWishes until the end of the campaign on December 30, 2014.
"We have amazing guests at our Tim Hortons and I'm thrilled we
were able to surprise them in this special way just in time for the
holidays," said Gord McQuarrie, the Tim Hortons restaurant owner in
Fort Frances. "We succeeded in
spreading warmth – we gave out hundreds of cups of free coffee and
hot chocolate and everyone looked happy and comfortable inside the
restaurant."
To spread even more warmth, Tim Hortons is donating yarn to
various knitting groups across the country to help knit hundreds of
hats and scarves on behalf of the restaurant chain to be donated to
people in need.
"We're proud to be have been part of this amazing project to
spread Warm Wishes," said Sylvie
Gagne, owner of Lettuce Knit in Toronto, which helped organize the group knit
across Canada. "Our community of knitters will be busy creating
hundreds of pieces to do our part in helping keep people warm this
winter."
The team at Lettuce Knit also knit the TimsRunner sweater for
the launch of the #WarmWishes campaign, which was repurposed into
blankets that were donated to Covenant House Toronto.
Launched on November 17, 2014, the
Tim Hortons #WarmWishes social media campaign encourages Canadians
to do good for others in an effort to help spread some warmth for
the holiday season. For every share of a good deed @TimHortons on
Instagram or Twitter using hashtag #WarmWishes, Tim Hortons will
provide children in need with a warm and cozy toque through the Tim
Hortons Children's Foundation.
To view and share the final chapter of Warm Wishes, please visit
YouTube.com/TimHortons.
Tim Hortons Inc. Overview
Tim Hortons is one of the
largest publicly-traded restaurant chains in North America based on market capitalization,
and the largest in Canada.
Operating in the quick service segment of the restaurant industry,
Tim Hortons appeals to a broad range of consumer tastes, with a
menu that includes premium coffee, hot and cold specialty drinks
(including lattes, cappuccinos and espresso shots), specialty teas
and fruit smoothies, fresh baked goods, grilled Panini and classic
sandwiches, wraps, soups, prepared foods and other food products.
As of September 28, 2014, Tim Hortons
had 4,590 systemwide restaurants, including 3,665 in Canada, 869 in the
United States and 56 in the Gulf Cooperation Council. More
information about the Company is available at
www.timhortons.com.
SOURCE Tim Hortons