How a TV commercial made this man 'P.E.I. famous'

Everywhere he goes these days, it seems, people ask Lindsay McAskill if he’s “found it.” The flooring store, that is.

Suddenly, Lindsay McAskill is recognized everywhere he goes

Shane Ross · CBC News · Posted: Mar 16, 2019 1:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 16, 2019

Lindsay McAskill knew he was going to be in a commercial for a flooring company, but he didn't realize the store had moved. (David Rashad Productions)

Lindsay McAskill says he's never had this much attention.

Strangers approach him on the street, in the stores, everywhere — at the home show in Charlottetown last weekend, it was "one person after another."

They all want to know one thing: Has he found the flooring store?

"The recognition, it was incredible," McAskill said. "It's very funny for me."

McAskill, a local carpenter, has become "P.E.I. famous" after appearing in a local TV commercial for Flooring Canada.

But he's not an actor, nor is he acting. His reaction, with the cameras rolling, is genuine when he goes to the old Flooring Canada location on Belvedere Avenue in Charlottetown and discovers the company has moved.

Advertising professional Gus Hillstrom, left, said he wanted to do a reality-style commercial, and he didn't have to look far to find his main character, Lindsay McAskill. (Angela Walker/CBC)

It works well, said advertising professional Gus Hillstrom, because the point of the commercial is to inform people that Flooring Canada has moved.

"It's real," Hillstrom said. "Every word is his."

Here's how it all came about.

I said, 'All you have to do is get a haircut and show up here tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.'— Gus Hillstrom

Hillstrom, working with David Rashed Productions to make the commercial, wondered if people actually knew the flooring company had moved two months ago. To test his theory, who better to ask than a carpenter?

Enter McAskill, who just happened to be doing some flooring work for Hillstrom at the time.

"I went home and I said, 'Lindsay, do you know where Flooring Canada is?' And he said, 'Yeah. They're right out there by the Atlantic Superstore.' So I knew he didn't know they moved and here he is about to start working on my floor."

With cameras rolling, McAskill realizes the Flooring Canada store is no longer at its former Belvedere Avenue location in Charlottetown. (David Rashad Productions)

Hillstrom had thought about doing a reality-style commercial in front of the old store location, asking people if they knew it had moved. And he had just found his main character, McAskill.

But Hillstrom didn't let him in on the secret just yet, because he wanted McAskill's reaction to be real.

"So I said, 'Lindsay, we need to go get some flooring, but would you like to be in a TV commercial of us doing that?'

"He said, 'Sure, what do I have to do?'

"I said, 'All you have to do is get a haircut and show up here tomorrow morning at 7 a.m..'"

Taking fame in stride

When they got to the old store location, Hillstrom said, McAskill jumped out of the truck with a puzzled look.

"He's looking around, and he's looking at David and me, and we're just shrugging our shoulders."

As they go on a quest to find the new location, McAskill clearly endears himself to viewers. He said friends from as far away as London, Ont., have called him to say they saw him on TV.

But he's remaining humble as he takes his new found fame in stride.

"Every time somebody mentions it to me of course I thank them very kindly," he said. "It's just been a very, very fun thing for me to do."