On Sunday, on the 15th of December, in the shopping and entertainment centre “Akropole Riga” several dozen visitors of the shopping mall stole “Pringles” chips packages that were piled up to make a Christmas tree of sorts, LETA was told by representatives of Akropole Riga shopping mall.
They denied that it was an event organised by the shopping mall.
Akropole Riga administration representatives indicated that in connection with the Coca-Cola Christmas event, the shopping centre had an unusually large number of visitors and additional security, police crews, medical and room management personnel were provided to ensure order in the shopping centre.
“Despite additional security measures, some visitors climbed over the fence set up around the installation and started taking the goods set up there,” said “Akropole Riga” representatives, adding that the actions of those visitors had resulted in damage to the installation. It is planned to work with State Police to assess the damage and decide on measures.
“Until now, visitors have been very responsible in viewing and photographing these types of objects,” said the representatives of Akropole Riga.
Latvian State Police confirmed that no applications regarding this incident have been received so far.
Photos and video recordings posted on social networks show people climbing over the fence and taking Pringles chips that were set up on the top of the Christmas tree-like installation.
On Sunday, the 15th of December, Coca-Cola’s Christmas truck arrived in Riga, Latvia as part of its Baltic tour. Over 20 000 people had attended the event in four hours. Visitors had the opportunity to take photos with the legendary Christmas Coca-Cola truck and Santa Claus, as well as send warm postcards to their loved ones.
“We are very pleased with the great response and enthusiasm of people waiting for the Coca-Cola Christmas truck and taking the time to participate in this special event. This year, for the first time, visitors also had the opportunity to look inside the car and enjoy the magic of Coca-Cola’s Christmas world even closer,” said Coca-Cola communications leader in Baltic States Liis Lepik.
Throughout the evening, visitors were invited to support the Society “Mission of Mercy Food of Life” both through the Coca-Cola app and through a special donation or kindness machine. “Coca-Cola donates meals as a charity on behalf of all people who participate in donation activities in the app or during an event. Also, the entire deposit packaging fee collected during the event will be sent to the charity – the Society “Mercy Mission Life Food”.
This year, the Christmas car tour started in Poland and included all the Baltic countries for the first time.
Thus, the residents of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn had the opportunity to experience the magic of the holiday created by the Coca-Cola Christmas truck. This tour celebrated everyone’s inner Santa Claus, the symbol of goodness and generosity that underlies the true values of the holidays.
The Coca-Cola Christmas truck is 18.6 metres long, about 2.5 metres wide, and weighs more than 19 tons. This legendary truck has been one of the most recognizable symbols of Christmas in the world for almost three decades since it first debut on television screens in the mid-1990s.
Akropole Riga is managed by “M257” LLC, which is 100% owned by Netherlands-based “Akropolis Real Estate B.V.”, according to information from Firmas.lv.