This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Grind guide
To the popular amphibious tour guide with the high-decibel, blaring loudspeaker and the downtown route, advising tourists to visit Starbucks and Second Cup for their coffee fix: Why don’t you support local cafes? Haligonians care so much about supporting
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Now I’m just throwing this out there — maybe it’s paid advertizing. Maybe Starbucks and Second Cup pay to have their names blared out all over downtown. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it’s a possibility. (And if it’s not, I agree that local businesses should benefit from the blare-boost as well!)
i would suggest they’re probably throwing a few bucks at them to get their name in there. Has anyone asked one of the locals to see if they’ve called the Hopper and expressed interest in who / what they cover on their tour and why?
The early scripts I overheard a few years back seemed to cover more historical and cultural stuff… It’s been a few years since the discussion, but I remember talking to someone about the newer advertising-oriented shpiel and they told me that it had something to do with a relationship to the downtown business commission or something like that. I don’t know if it’s actual direct paid advertising, but it’s in that vein.