Last chance for Canadians to turn their Olympic “like” into gold

With just one click, Canadians can join the thousands of fans across the country who have shown their “like” for the Canadian Olympic Team, as one-by-one another shiny loonie goes to support our athletes.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) have teamed up on a Facebook fan campaign to harness all that passion and support for our budding athletes as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

For every new Canadian fan of Canada at “Keep Exploring” on Facebook (the CTC’s page), one dollar will go to the Canadian Olympic Team. The promotion runs until February 28, one year after the Closing Ceremony.

“Every dollar goes a long way in supporting the Canadian Olympic Team,” said Mark Tewksbury, triple Olympic medallist and Canada’s Chef de Mission for London 2012. “Having organizations such as the CTC believe and support our athletes’ dreams will help Canada reach new heights in London and beyond.”

As Canada’s tourism marketing agency, the CTC needs passionate Canadian fans to share photos and post stories about Canada to encourage international travellers to visit Canada. Rather than do a traditional online ad buy to attract attention to facebook.com/KeepExploring, the CTC earmarked marketing dollars to partner with the Canadian Olympic Committee.

“We started at 30,101 fans, and so far we’ve increased our Facebook fan base by more than 10,300 which means at least $10,300 for the Canadian Olympic Team,” says Gloria Loree, CTC executive director, Global Communications. “But we know there are so many other Canadians out there who love Canada and love our athletes, so we’re doing one more call out to go online and give us the thumb’s up.”

The campaign is live until midnight, February 28th, 2011 at facebook.com/KeepExploring.