Vancouver Canucks Riots: How to destroy a brand in 60 seconds or less
If the riots in 1994 following the Canucks defeat to the New York Rangers left a blemish on Vancouver, then the riots of 2011 have tarnished the franchise for generations to come.
I’ve been a Canucks fan since 1978 when Stan Smyl was drafted by Vancouver. I remember the excitement of the 1982 cup run. It was magical. The Canucks lost four straight games to the New york Islanders in the Stanley Cup finals but we didn’t riot. We had a parade! Go figure.
In 1994, we took the New York Rangers to within a goal post of sending Game 7 to overtime, and then all hell broke loose at home. Fast forward 17 years. Lesson learned, right? Nope.
This year’s version of the Vancouver Canucks brand is truly shameful because everyone around the world now sees Vancouverites as a bunch of classless sore losers. Like spoiled little brats that don’t get their way, they break your stuff hoping you will share in their pathetic childish pity party… over a game… a game! How dumb is that?
I know, I know, those hooligans aren’t true hockey fans, but rightly or wrongly, now whenever people from anywhere see the Vancouver Canucks logo, they will associate it with disgraceful behaviour by whiners and crybabies that turn to violence because their team lost a hockey game. A hockey game! Imagine showing the image above to a Canadian soldier on the front lines in Afghanistan.
1994 was bad, but this year is much worse because we didn’t learn a damn thing about 1994. Like it or not, the Canuck brass has major damage control on their hands. The disdain on Vancouver around the rest of the NHL is much stronger now because the haters have been validated by a few dumb-asses.
It will be a very long time before the Vancouver Canucks brand will be able to regain any semblance of trust or respect around the league. Seriously, how do you respect a crybaby? Once thing is certain, not many people will embrace the Canucks logo the same way ever again. I know I won’t. That could equate to lost revenue in tickets and merchandise.
From a business perspective, that’s a hard lesson. It proves without a doubt that a brand is an important business asset. Right now, the Vancouver Canucks brand is getting seriously torched.
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