Attacking the Attack Ads

I was kept busy doing four days of media training across the province last week, but apparently not busy enough to see political attack ads almost every time I turned a TV on.

I wish they would disappear, or that somebody would put a stop to them. They're embarrassing and childish, but I suppose do serve a purpose.

Getting Down in the Gutter

I’m sure you’ve seen them and likely far more than you want to. Perhaps though you see them on TV, but they don’t sink in because you’ve seen so many.

The Liberals and Conservatives are trading attack ads on TV. The Conservatives are running a ton of ads calling Prime Minister Mark Carney “sneaky.” The ads are meant to give Canadians doubts about Carney since he’s new. Maybe we shouldn’t or can’t trust this guy?

Th Liberals are countering with attack ads on Pierre Poilievre. They tie him into US President Donald Trump and the ads show him saying pretty well the same outlandish things Trump says. The ads are designed to connect Poilievre to the now almost universally-disliked Trump in Canada.

These ads are obviously well researched. Major political parties aren’t going to spend millions of dollars on TV advertising campaigns if they didn’t think they could make a point. I’m sure they have research that shows trust in Carney is lacking, or at least is a weak point of his. No doubt surveys have shown the Liberals connecting Poilievre to Trump hurts him politically.

Take some of the millions of dollars in political donations you have in the bank and dump them into political attack ads on TV. It’s a strategy that’s been around for far too long to not think it’s effective.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

It Will Only Get Worse

I wish they would stop, or somebody would put a stop to them.

I’m tired of seeing these stupid ads. There’s no TV ad that’s going to change my mind on who I’ll be voting for in the April 28th election. Like most Canadians, I make my decisions on what I see from the leaders as they speak at news conferences, at other media appearances, or based on their policies. Some people try to figure out who they dislike the most, so they can vote for the other guy.

There have to be good reasons political parties continue to run these ads, or they wouldn’t be wasting millions on them. They must have research that shows these attack ads move the needle with some people. Perhaps if you see Prime Minister Carney called sneaky enough times you will really believe it. Maybe if Poilievre looks like the reincarnation of Donald Trump you’ll have no interest in voting for him. Maybe.

Of course, Canada isn’t the only country these ads appear. You couldn’t turn on an American news channel last year without seeing at least one or two attack ads leading up to the US election. With our election on April 28, we’ll see a lot more of these ads.

Thrilling prospect isn’t it?

Please Make it Stop

The parties won’t stop these ads, so maybe somebody should. I would like to see the CRTC, the government body that regulates radio and TV in this country put an end to these ads.

It shouldn’t be difficult. Simply say advertising about political opponents won’t be allowed by politicians, political parties or special interest groups. Remember the CRTC waded into the debate over Canadians seeing American Super Bowl ads. It was in favour of that, but Bell Media took the matter to court and won, blocking the American ads on CTV stations showing the Super Bowl.

A decision by the CRTC to ban attack ads could also end up in court, but at least it’s an attempt to get these negative, divisive, juvenile, annoying commercials off our televisions.

I wouldn’t expect the courts to help though. The Federal Court has already ruled that using copyrighted broadcast content without authorization to produce attack ads is okay. If video is taken from a network, or YouTube to produce an attack ad, there’s no way the company that produced that content can stop it from being used.

Maybe There's a Better Way

It seems to me what’s missing here is some creative advertising. If multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns can sell cars, cell phones and fast food, why can’t the same be done with politicians?

We saw the Conservatives run an image campaign a year or so ago on Poilievre. Those commercials made him seem much more of a caring human and a real person. Many people didn’t like them, but I found them effective. That’s what advertising should do – sell your product and not tear down the competition.

Maybe more creative advertising and storytelling is needed? More of that might move us away from the crap that’s now on our televisions.

The best news about a spring election is by the end of April we should be rid of attack ads for awhile.

Elbows up.