The holidays have Skittles in giving mood

The holiday season has Skittles in a giving mood.

“We heard about some of the truly uninspiring gifts Canadians had received and that nearly half (47%) would pawn a bad gift for Skittles, so we were inspired to make a little holiday magic happen,” says Laura Amantea, marketing director, Wrigley Canada. “The Skittles Holiday Pawn Shop opened its doors for the first time in 2015, turning unwanted gifts into rainbow-clad smiles—and we’re excited to be able to do it again.”

Located in the Queen West neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, pawning will be available starting December 26 and ending December 30 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.

Skittles pawnbrokers will be on-site to make deals based on the estimated Skittles value of people's unwanted gifts.

Canadians also have the opportunity to win items donated by Canadian celebrities.

The one-of-a-kind items include a Skittles studded briefcase from the 6 Dad, Norm Kelly; a Skittles-studded hockey stick from professional hockey player Johnny Gaudreau; a Skittles-studded Xbox 360 controller from Lights and Skittles-studded basketball sneakers from Kyle Lowry, professional basketball player.

 

Canadians can win their favourite item by taking a picture of themselves in the pawn shop or with Skittles.

Then, the pictures need to be uploaded to Instagram using the caption, “I want to win” indicating the item they’d like to win. Participants must use the hashtag #SkittlesPawn. Five winners will be randomly selected and contacted through Instagram’s direct message by January 6.

“Last year, the Skittles Holiday Pawn Shop was outstanding, reaching millions of Canadians and placing Skittles in the holiday season," says Amantea. "We had to bring it back for a second year due to popular demand.”