It’s not just Canada crazy for red mittens…
Undoubtedly if you’ve been following the Olympics (or you know, not living under a rock) you’ve heard about the red mittens. The absolute must-have accessory for the 2010 Vancouver games that have been selling out across the country since they were released…
Last week, MediaMiser released a report that looked at some of the fun aspects of the pre-Olympics media coverage. One such topic was those red mittens. While it was no surprise they received a good amount of media coverage, we were shocked to learn they aren’t just being talked about in Canada, but in fact, the top-three news outlets talking about the mittens were all US-based.
While we’re working on a follow-up report (watch for its release first week of March), using our Twitter Analysis tool, I noticed that chatter about the mittens skyrocketed on Feb. 13 and again on the 16th. While the spike on the 13th likely had to do with timing – the first full day of the Olympics, everyone was wearing the mittens, etc., I set out find what triggered the second spike on the 16th…
Image from USA Today article
The top mentioned link about the mittens on Twitter that day was an article in USA Today. Yep, another major US publication. In fact, none of the top links were by Canadian mass media-the majority were (Canadian) blogs hosting mitten giveaways, actually. The USA Today article even mentions the mittens are the “gotta-have souvenir” of the games and features a photo of Vice-President Joe Biden sporting a pair.
According to the article, mitten retailer, the Bay, had originally projected selling 1-million pairs of the mittens, and now anticipates 3.4-million total.
Pretty neat, eh?
Download our preliminary Olympics Report
How the Media Sees It: A fun look at the 2010 Olympics. MediaMiser analyzes the fun side of the pre-Olympic Coverage. Download now!
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