'Extremely generous': Viral social media post gets Winnipeg man free wings for a year
Winnipegger Howie Prociuk was on a father/son trip south of the border to see the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis last month, when a funny thought occurred to him.
"We're at the hotel in Minneapolis on Friday before the game and I go to my son 'Let's do something crazy on our sign that will maybe get us on (television)," said Prociuk.
He wrote, "My wife thinks I'm watching the game at Smitty's in Winnipeg … let's go Jays!" in thick black marker on a piece of white poster board, and the two headed off to the game.
Prociuk was successful in getting his sign televised Friday night. Back in Winnipeg, Smitty's marketing director Jessica McGregor was going about her evening when she was sent a photo of Prociuk and his sign.
"Our owners got a text message from one of their friends who happened to be watching the Jays game saying 'did you see this?'" said McGregor.
She posted the photo to the Smitty's Facebook page in an effort to find out who Prociuk was, and to reward him for his loyalty.
"I immediately took it to social media, and from there is kind of just spiraled …we kind of exploded overnight in terms of how viral we went in Winnipeg, which was very exciting for us," McGregor said.
She said Prociuk had no idea it was happening because he's not on social media.
"He said he didn’t find out about it until he crossed the border and his phone blew up with people trying to get a hold of him so we could get a hold of him," said McGregor.
"My phone, it was like sitting next to R2-D2, it went bonkers. People I haven’t heard from in years contacting me," Prociuk said.
In thanks for the cross-border shout-out, Smitty's gave Prociuk free wings for a year from any location in Winnipeg, along with some promotional gifts from local breweries.
"Smitty's was extremely generous and gave me a little bit of swag for my wife and myself, and then they gave me a coupon for chicken wings for a year," Prociuk said.
"We'll definitely be enjoying the wings!"
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.