P.E.I. teenager goes viral with ‘Manne of Green Gables’ videos

Towards the back of the shop, behind rows of P.E.I.-themed merchandise and postcards of Confederation Bridge, visitors can pay to dress up and take photos as the province’s main fictional export, Anne of Green Gables.

Then, it went viral on the store’s Instagram account.

“I remember being home one night and I checked the views and it was at 40,000, and I was like, ‘this is crazy,’” Pickering said in a recent interview.

That night, he watched views skyrocket to over 100,000. By the next morning, the video had reached half a million. And, during the following day, Pickering’s costumed tour surpassed a million views.

It all started when Shop and Play’s co-owner Barbarann Fall asked her son and some of the other employees, including Pickering, for ideas on how to raise the store’s social media profile.

“They just started putting together ideas … and as you can see, we’re viral,” Fall said with a smile. Since then, Pickering and some of the other employees spend a few hours a week brainstorming and producing more videos.

In the next video, Pickering in full Anne of Green Gables garb dons sunglasses to promote Lobster flavoured potato chips. In another, he rides a scooter in a “day in the life” video blog.

“I want to go to PEI specifically for this store,” writes one user. Another says that if the shop started making Manne of Green Gables shirts, they would buy one.

But it’s not just gaining traction online.

Fall, who has co-owned Shop and Play for the last four years, said the videos have brought more people to the store and helped her bottom line.

“Our parlour is getting busy and we have hired extra staff to accommodate that,” she said.

As Fall and Pickering demonstrated how they put on the Anne of Green Gables outfits, an out-of-province tourist interrupted to ask for a photo with Pickering.

That’s not unusual ever since their first viral video, they said. Fall added they are planning to extend their season to weekends in December due to the shop’s increased popularity.

“We need to listen to kids,” she said. “They know social media and they’re willing to try and not give up … they have that spirit and determination, you just got to give them the chance to show that.”

Ross Simmonds, a Nova Scotia-based marketing expert who has worked with brands such as Canva and LinkedIn, agrees that businesses shouldn’t be afraid to hand their social media login credentials to interested youth.

He pointed out that over a decade ago it was millennials who were changing how some businesses appeared online.

“Passing the brand over to them seemed risky. But in reality, it was a smart move because that is who had their pulse on culture,” Simmonds said by phone.

And Pickering, he said, “understands what type of content the internet wants and what people want. And by passing the account over, you’re able to win.”

“We need to ensure that employees have a pretty clear playing field,” said Rodericks, who works for KPMG as a social growth director.

“What are they allowed to talk about freely? What is a no-fly zone? What is confidental and off-limits?”

And, as a small business starts to publish short-form videos and other social media content, Rodricks warned that they shouldn’t just be trying to get lucky with viral fame.

Instead, he said, they should aim for the same authenticity that Pickering brought for Shop and Play to build an audience organically.

“Businesses shouldn’t be asking, how should we go viral? That’s not the objective. Businesses should be asking, why would somebody — anybody — care to share this content?”

“I’m loving every second of it,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2026.