As orange, yellow and purple Skittles spilled over the rims of their champagne glasses, Don Dobbie and Chelsea Middleton weren’t worried about waste.

The View Royal couple were celebrating their prize of one million Skittles, after winning a national online contest.

article continues below

“Don’t worry, we have refills,” said Dobbie, 34, before adding another handful to his glass.

The pair watched two delivery men unload 2,510 pounds — more than one tonne — of the colourful candies, divided among 88 boxes, in front of their home at the Thetis Lake trailer park Friday morning.

While Middleton, a 31-year-old hair stylist, was the official winner, it was Dobbie’s strategy that secured her win, she said.

The contest, sponsored by candy-maker Wrigley Canada, played on the pyramid-scheme model. It called on participants to get as many other people as possible to sign up for the contest through social media and watch a promotional YouTube video. Each sign-up earned Middleton eight points and each video view earned her four.

Ultimately, she earned 60,202 points — almost double that of her nearest challenger, who collected 36,438.

Dobbie, an online marketing specialist who regularly works with social media and crowd-funding campaigns, said he put his professional skills to work. He reached out through Empire Avenue, which he described as an “upper-level social media site with a lot of high-powered influencers,” to drive traffic to the site.

Middleton said she has fielded a lot of questions about what she plans to do with so many Skittles.

“We’re going to have a couple of parties and give them away, donate a bunch to food banks — hopefully the Mustard Seed — and then I don’t know,” Middleton said. “Eat a lot.”

Their first public party is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 1 at Club 9ONE9. Everyone is welcome and is encouraged to wear rainbow-coloured clothing. Skittles will be distributed at the door.

In the meantime, Dobbie said, they’ll have to figure out a way to store the Skittles in their 875-square-foot trailer.

“We’re almost at capacity as it is, but we’re going to find room,” he said.

Middleton said she’s excited to begin sharing.

“It’s like I found the end of the rainbow and it was Skittles.”

asmart@timescolonist.com