Atlantic Lottery is cashing in on Maritimers’ legendary love of donairs by introducing a new scratch ticket that will leave customers craving the delicacy’s spicy meat and sweet white sauce.
Players could win a top prize of $20,000, while secondary prize winners will receive gift cards worth $2,500, which they can spend at local donair joints – the equivalent of free donairs for a year.
While some foodies would jump at the chance to eat a donair every day, others say they would rather take home the cash.
“I think I would settle for the money,” said lotto player Terry Thomas. “I don’t think I’d eat a donair every day.”
For the record, a small donair has roughly 500 calories, but who’s counting?
ALC retailer Craig MacDonald says there’s always lots of excitement when Atlantic Lottery releases a new scratch ticket, and the aptly-named Mucho Donair-o is no exception.
“It creates excitement and people seem to be drawn to it,” said MacDonald.
Nicholas Nahas, who works at King of Donair in Halifax, says the scratch ticket is also a great way to spread the word about the city’s official food.
“Not only is the donair the official food of Halifax, it’s a delicacy for tourists who come here,” said Nahas.
Irene and Steven Lau are visiting Halifax from Toronto. Their parents just purchased a donair manufacturing distribution business, so the brother and sister decided to come to Halifax to do some market research. They tasted donairs for the first time on Tuesday.
“I really like how the sweet sauce kind of balances with the seasoning of the meat itself,” decided Irene. “Even though it’s a bit messy and things are falling everywhere, it’s really good. I enjoy it.”
The Mucho Donair-o scratch ticket will be released Wednesday across Atlantic Canada.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Bruce Frisko
