Spreading ‘stay home’ message
Premier’s words have been turned into business opportunities
SYDNEY — Although a state of emergency came into effect in Nova Scotia on March 22, many people still wouldn’t stay home.
Now people can decorate their homes with the words Premier Stephen McNeil uttered on April 3 when he told Nova Scotias to “stay the blazes home."
His message can be found on everything from clocks to shower curtains to coffee and beer.
“I delivered a message from Nova Scotia,” the premier said when asked during Wednesday’s COVID-19 teleconference if he was aware his message was being carried on every item of merchandise imaginable.
McNeil said his message was one we would hear from grandparents or parents when we weren’t paying attention to the rules, which is why it has resonated with a lot of people.
“I’m glad it helped others capture the spirit of what Nova Scotians were feeling at that particular time.”
McNeil said he is aware of the products since family, friends and staff have been having fun with some of the merchandise.
“It’s been quite a bit of entertainment for the people who work here with me,” he said, adding friends and family are often sending him stuff.
“Many were frightened by the shower curtain, I must tell you that,” he said with a laugh.
During the April 3 teleconference, McNeil angrily said he was tired of hearing that Nova Scotia parking lots at shopping locations were full of cars, as though the province was not in the midst of a deadly pandemic.
“To the reckless and selfish I’m talking to you," he said that day. “We need to stay the blazes home.”
The phrase went viral, resulting in T-shirts, coffee mugs and musicians on Facebook reinforcing McNeil’s message.
Then the message crossed borders.
The "Stay the Blazes Home" phrase can be found on everything from water bottles to bedding being sold by artists and companies from Vietnam to the United Kingdom to the United States.
T-shirts can be purchased on E-bay and on the global marketplace, Redbubble, there are at least 50 different designs of artwork as well as clocks, scarves, drawstring bags and coasters, many featuring not only the phrase but also the premier’s photo.
The U.K. company, 1793 designs, has used the phrase on mobile phone cases and then there are postcards, notebooks, towels, socks, bedding and pillows.
Hometown artists and companies are just as involved.
Strangershirts of Halifax is selling related T-shirts, notebooks and a shower curtain using the phrase and the photo.
Michel (Mike) Soucy, an artist/photographer from Cheticamp, has artwork he created on his Redbubble site featuring the phrase and a donkey.
“Without actually saying so the message was, ‘Come on, don’t be a jackass, stay the blazes home,'” he said.
Soucy was listening to the the April 3 teleconference and the premier's words struck a chord.
“What came across loud and clear was the premier’s and Dr. (Robert) Strang’s frustration," he said. “People seemingly not entertaining the concept of how much staying at home could help them in their efforts to curtail this virus from spreading any further from where it needs to spread.”
Soucy and his wife have underlying health conditions.
“We have a vested interest in this.”
Periodically Soucy creates artwork utilizing various messages relating to social media or government policies, drawing from his 250,000 photos of various subjects.
“Not that it’s a habit of mine, because one thing I certainly don’t want to do is to profit off anything that is affecting people’s lives in a real way.”
A Truro company, My Home Apparel, has a Stay the Blazes Home collection including muscle shirts and baby onesies. The company partnered with Aroma Maya, Fundy Treasures and Classy Cards Creative, and created the Blazes HOME Team, each with its own "blazes" products. Aroma Maya, for example, is offering a coffee blend and donating proceeds to various charities including COVID-19 relief.
Garrison Brewing in Halifax began creating a Stay The Blazes Home beer, two days after hearing McNeil make the plea.
“We actually had a beautiful beer we didn’t have a home for because of COVID and all the bars and restaurants being closed,” said owner/general manager Brian Titus.
They quickly learned how big it was, phones lit up and their online store was shut down by the number of orders.
Titus said a new batch came out Thursday. Some of the proceeds from each sale goes to Feed Nova Scotia and so far $12,000 has been raised.
“The interest has not gone down at all,” he said. “This is not going away and because of this we’ve been able to retain all 40 of our staff.”
McNeil said he was pleased to discover blazes-related products resulted in a Nova Scotia business bringing back laid-off staff and a beer company creating more jobs.
”At the same time (they are) helping us deliver what is an important public health message during this time of COVID,” he added.
“In order for us to deal with this issue it will require all of us to "stay the blazes home.”