WATCH: A contest to name BC Ferries new ships has generated some hilarious suggestions on social media. Kylie Stanton reports.
Sea Scam. Queen of Ripoffs. Seaway Robbery. The Spirit of Executive Bonuses.
And those are just the ones we can print on a family-friendly website.
BC Ferries’ announcement on Tuesday, asking the public to come up with names for three new Intermediate Class Ferries, was met with derision on social media almost as soon as the corporation asked people to give their suggestions with the hashtag #NameAFerry.
By Wednesday, stories about the amusing, often negative responses to the contest were getting much more attention than the stories about the contest itself. Still, the organization is saying the day-old contest is a success.
“It’s not unexpected. Whenever you ask for names, you’re going to get some really interesting names,” says BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall.
“We have a really good sense of humour, we also know people are going to come up with some thoughts of their own…We know there’s going to be some fun with it, and that’s great, but we’re also very confident we’re going to get some great names in the end.”
Raging about BC Ferries on social media is nothing new for many British Columbians. In late 2014 an Island man’s Facebook rant about the corporation went viral. When they forced the suspension of the popular parody account @BCFerrys, many criticized them for being thin-skinned.
But Global BC Legislative Bureau Chief Keith Baldrey says that reaching out on social media will always be dicey for utility companies like BC Ferries or ICBC.
“I wouldn’t say they’ve got a toxic brand, they’ve got an easy target. You can have 10 great experiences, but all it takes is a two-sailing wait on a long weekend to wash that away.”
Baldrey says that while much of the criticism of BC Ferries comes from their regular fare increases, there’s relatively little the company can do.
“The only way BC Ferries is going to combat their image is lower fares, and the only way they can do that is if the government increases the subsidy to them,” he says.
“Their cost cutting has been pretty well close to being maxed out, and they are at the mercy of an expensive workforce–most of it unionized–and ever rising fuel costs and a prolonged flatlining in ridership. So you do the math, those fares can’t come down unless the subsidy is increased.”
READ MORE: Five options for BC Ferries after eliminating Horseshoe Bay-Nanaimo route rejected
The ships will be completed in 2016 and 2017, and will replace the Queen of Burnaby, which travels from Comox to Powell River, and the Queen of Nanaimo, which travels from Tsawwassen to Galiano, Mayne and Pender Islands.
The contest, which you can enter here, runs until June 9.
Comments