The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce along with businesses, organizations and individuals have pooled their creative juices to produce a seasonal video with a shop local message.
Dubbed Rappin' Up a Comox Valley Christmas, 12 Days of Local Christmas Spirit, the video features the singing voices of numerous members of the business community and a few local politicians including CVRD board chair Edwin Grieve and Coun. Hugh MacKinnon of Comox.
Music is performed by the Paisley Bandits, who put a funky spin on the Christmas classic. Daniel Kooman of Unveil Studios shot and produced the video, and Chamber employee Terri Perrin came up with the creative concept and lyrics.
"It sounded like a fabulous idea," Chamber president/CEO Dianne Hawkins said. "People just jumped onto the opportunity. I think it built a lot of goodwill."
After the song's introduction, the camera visits 24 locations in the Valley where different groups of people sing lines that highlight small business and encourage viewers to shop downtown, volunteer and give to charity.
"I think it had a pretty good representation of the fun that happens when you shop downtown," said Hawkins, noting Cumberland, Courtenay and Comox were involved in the project. "It took a lot of effort and a lot of extra work to produce it, and we had a short timeframe to work with. We wanted to get it out there for the shopping season."
As of Monday, the song had generated about 900 hits.
It's been shared with the Chamber network across Canada, which produced a strong response. Some people have asked if they could steal the idea.
"That's something we do in the Chamber world," Hawkins said. "We support each other, because we're all doing the same thing. All the Chambers in Canada are finding ways to promote businesses in their area, and keep their community vibrant and economically viable.
"Anything that you work hard at is worth it for the results, which is true for small business," she added. "Small business people are out there every day working at their products and what they believe in."
You can watch the video at www.comoxvalleychamber.com/visit/shop_local.aspx, or http://goo.gl/Iv6aR.
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com