Vancouver riot kiss photograph pays off for couple

THE Vancouver riot couple who earlier claimed they had no interest in cashing in on their now infamous kiss, have hired a PR agency to look after their ‘commercial activities’ in Australia.

Media experts belive the kiss could be worth up to $10 million (almost €7m).

Australian Scott Jones was captured kissing Canadian girlfriend Alex Thomas in the midst of the riots in Vancouver last week and the image made global news.

Yesterday it emerged the couple have hired PR firm Markson Sparks to handle their public relations in Australia. The agency has been briefed to manage the couple’s commercial activities, endorsements and Jones has made himself available for stand up comedy engagements.

Max Markson said the global exposure was worth a potential $10 million, while public relations firm PPR Perth managing director Peter Harris said Mr Jones could have cashed in on the “advertising equivalent of millions of dollars”.

“It’s a $10 million branding exercise. If you had something he could endorse it would be amazing. It would be good if he drank Red Bull,” Markson said.

The couple said they were making their way across Granville in downtown Vancouver after the Stanley Cup final between ice hockey teams the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins.

A riot broke out after the Canucks’ lost, and Mr Jones and Ms Thomas found themselves trapped on a street as riot police charged towards them.

Ms Thomas said: “I remember falling and saying, ‘Please don’t hurt us.’ Saying, ‘I don’t want to be caught up in the middle of this.’ I just wanted to get out of there.”

Mr Jones said: “They started beating us with the shields, like trying to get us to move.

“I don’t know why. We weren’t being aggressive towards [police] or anything like that. But eventually they passed over us. And that’s when we were on the ground. She was a bit hysterical afterwards, obviously, and I was just trying to calm her down.”