Spoiler Alert
On this week’s episode of Amazing Race Canada, contestants flew from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The show saw a 10.5-per-cent increase in social media activity compared to last week’s episode.
In last week’s post, we speculated the Amazing Race Canada is facing competition for eyeballs from the Pan Am Games. In that respect, a 10.5 per cent increase is very positive for the show — especially since Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse was competing for gold in the 100 metres around the same time. The men’s 100 metres is the marquee event of the Pan Am Games.
Canada also played Argentina in men’s basketball the same day of the show’s airing.
The #AmazingRaceCanada in Argentina and Team Canada playing Argentina in PanAm BBall. #coincidence?
— Mike Cosentino (@macosentino) July 23, 2015
That said, compared to last year’s episode three Twitter interaction was down 27.4 per cent. Still, viewer engagement is increasing. Hopefully that trend continues with next week’s episode, as the contestants head back to Canada to race around Halifax, NS. In the past, fans of the show have reacted very positively to Canadian destinations. Most of the improvement for week three was around task or roadblock engagement. The most popular sport in Argentina is soccer — or what the Argentines refer to as futbol — so it makes sense that the blind soccer event was the most popular roadblock with viewers on Twitter (the frustration of some of the teams probably didn’t hurt, either) . The roadblock tasked contestants to maneuver a ball through pylons and score while blindfolded. Many tweets mentioned the creativity of some contestants overcoming the challenge by hopping with the ball between their legs, which was originally initiated by wrestlers and fan favorites Nick Foti and Matt Giunta.
Love it!! “The Hop”: #AmazingRaceCanada soccer challenges since 2015 cc: @Asylum1240 @mattrlp123 #HoppyHoppy pic.twitter.com/UoB5ZDBXeB” — Lori Bursey (@ArgoDiva) July 23, 2015
@AmazingRaceCDA I love the wrestlers! Hop soccer! Can’t wait to see them Tango
— Wanda Keenan (@KeenanWanda) July 23, 2015
The roadblock built around Argentina’s national dance, the tango, was the next most popular followed by the Mentos candy task. Candy manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle certainly enjoyed some valuable brand placement (Mentos were also featured in a task in last year’s season, as well).
@AmazingRaceCDA I really liked the cleverness of the mentos challenge it was really cool!! #AmazingRaceCanada — Adam McNeice (@Restoule12) July 23, 2015
Seriously though, what a ‘sweet’ challenge with Mentos! #AmazingRaceCanada pic.twitter.com/YoZrFg3gqo
— Amazing Race Canada (@AmazingRaceCDA) July 23, 2015
When it comes to share of voice for contestants, Nick and Matt are emerging as this year’s consistent fan favourites along with fellow contestants Hamilton Elliott and Michaelia Drever, who are also developing a solid following.
But as in previous years, winning has proven to be the great equalizer, as demonstrated by father-and-daughter team Neil and Kristin Lumsden who won this week’s leg (and finished with the second most Twitter mentions behind Nick and Matt).
MediaMiser actively blogs about the Amazing Race Canada and leverages MediaMiser solutions to compile analysis on the show.
