Seven in Ten (70%) Canadians Intend to Participate in Earth Hour on March 28

Toronto, ON - March 28, 8pm, will mark Earth Hour, when individuals and business around the world are encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour in order to raise awareness of environmental problems and concerns. According to an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Coca-Cola, seven in ten (70%) Canadians say that they plan on participating in Earth Hour, up from 59% of Canadians who said they participated last year, according to a post Earth Hour survey also conducted by Ipsos Reid.

Atlantic Canadians (84%) are the most likely to say they'll participate this year, followed by those living in British Columbia (77%), Ontario (72%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (71%), Alberta (63%) and Quebec (63%). Considerably more women (78%) than men (63%) indicate their intention to participate in Earth Hour.

Among the three in ten (30%) who don't intend to participate, the most common reason why they aren't is that they haven't heard of Earth Hour (33%), while others are simply not interested (26%) or believe that it is too inconvenient (17%). One quarter (23%) have some other reason for not participating.

Olympics With the Lights Out...

If Canadians could spend Earth Hour with a past Canadian Olympic athlete, among a list of famous Olympians, one in three (34%) would choose to spend the hour with Jamie Sale and David Pelletier who won the gold medal in pairs figure skating while at the centre of the vote-trading scandal when they were originally awarded silver. Two in ten (19%) would opt to spend the hour with Nancy `Tiger' Greene, who was named Canada's athlete of the 20th century.

Others would want to spend the time with Marc Gagnon (19%, 32% in Quebec) who is a speed skating gold medalist, speed skater Cindy Klassen (17%) who won 5 medals in the 2006 games, or Clara Hughes (11%) who is Canada's only Olympian to win medals in both the Winter and Summer games.

But what is unclear is whether Canadians will be engaged in any Olympic activities of their own when the lights go out for an hour. Three in ten (29%) say that skeleton would work best in the dark, while others think that ice skating (23%), bobsled (21%), luge (18%) or pairs figure skating (8%) is the best option.

In terms of events to avoid in the dark, ski jumping takes the cake (33%), while ice hockey (28%) is not far behind. Others believe that pairs figure skating (15%), freestyle skiing (15%) or speed skating (9%) would not work very well either.

Tying in Canadians' commitment to helping the environment with their passion for the Olympics, the poll reveals that eight in ten (78%) say it's `important' (31% very/47% somewhat) to them for `Olympic sporting equipment to be made in a sustainable manner or from sustainable/recycled materials'. Just two in ten (22%) say that it's not `important' (7% not at all/15% not very) to them that this be the case.

Choosing the Canadian Team Olympic Mascot...

If they had the opportunity to choose the Canadian Olympic Team mascot from a list of endangered animals that can be found in Canada, the majority (59%) believes that the polar bear should be the mascot for Team Canada. Others think that the Beaver (14%) or the Moose (11%) would be the best choice, while the cougar (9%) and the wolverine (8%) have slightly less support to be the mascot for the Canadian Olympic Team.

These are the findings of a poll conducted on behalf of Coca-Cola from March 16 to 19, 2009. This online survey of 1,033 Canadian adults was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The results of this poll is based on a sample where quota sampling and weighting are employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. Quota samples with weighting from the Ipsos online panel provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online polls, however, an unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had the entire adult population of Canada been polled.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sandra Guiry
Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2018
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid

Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, health and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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