A Lacombe resident will be recognized Canada-wide after a Canadian Tire national advertising campaign featuring him comes out this fall.
Sam Donahue, a truck driver from BAMMS Contracting and Lacombe resident for the last three years, recently filmed the commercial in Toronto.
“The campaign is called ‘Tested for Life in Canada’ and it is a campaign that Canadian Tire has had for a few years,” Donahue said. “I signed up a couple years ago to part of a survey panel answering questions on brand recognition and also what my preference on the brands Canadian Tire offers.
“Last fall, they sent me a Mastercraft cordless drill to test out and review. I did that and they contacted me and told me to keep the drills and thanked me for the review.”
Donahue thought his experience with Canadian Tire was over until February of this year when they contacted him again asking if he would like to take part in a commercial on the product. Donahue jumped at the chance and flew into Toronto — all expenses paid for five days — to film the commercial.
“They are in the process of putting it all together. It will run in the fall and it will feature me — I will probably be in it for all of five seconds but it will be me,” he said.
Donahue said he doesn’t typically look to be the center of attention, so being in a national commercial was a little out of his comfort zone.
“Being on the TV set with the director and everyone, it was a little interesting because it was outside my comfort zone but also pretty exciting at the same time,” he said.
Donahue was happy to be able to represent Canadian Tire — a brand he has supported since he bought his first tool set when he was a young teenager.
“I probably still have some of the tools laying around. It is neat to be part of the iconic store and I see it as a bit of thank you for all the years of supporting them,” he said.
Being also represented his adopted home in Lacombe is something Donahue is proud of.
“I have been working in Lacombe for three years and I absolutely love the community,” he said. “When they run this commercial, it will say my name from Lacombe. It is neat to represent a community I really enjoy living in.
“It is a shame we don’t have a Canadian Tire here yet, but people will see Lacombe on the commercials.”
Donahue said it was the experience of a lifetime to take part in the ad.
“Canadian Tire really treated me well with the all-expense paid trip to Toronto and I was there for five days,” he said. “It was neat to see the behind the scenes experience. You see the commercials on TV and you don’t realize the amount of people, work and money involved.
“It was a fantastic experience from start to finish and I am looking forward to seeing what the finished product looks like in the fall.”
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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