UPDATED with non-trivial new information…see bottom of post…
One of the things Maclean’s wants to do during the next election better than we ever have done before is to keep track of where ads actually run. This is based on two common practices of every party during recent elections, practices we expect them all, especially the Harper Tories, to ramp up dramatically:
(1) Announcing ads that they do not, in fact, pay to place commercially;
(2) Running ads, especially in selected local markets, without announcing them or showing them to reporters beforehand.
The first tactic is slightly sneaky, the second minimally so. Both are legitimate campaign tools. The goal of announcing but not placing, of course, is to get a free-media bounce out of all the credulous teevee and print coverage, without blowing any of your campaign budget. The goal of placing but not announcing is to avoid the attention of reporters who work for fancy news organizations in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. The Tories in ‘06 ran pots of “negative” ads against the Liberals in local markets before they, the Tories, ran national ads warning the Liberals would “go neg.”
I must emphasize that it is perfectly legitimate for all campaigns to use both of these tactics, one or neither. But I must also insist that we have a right to follow these shadow wars if we can. Our hunch here at Maclean’s is that you can help us.
Let us begin with this ad, which Jason Kenney said in a Sunday news conference the Conservatives will run on the video screens of selected gas stations. It is tremendously clever and it’s getting lots of free media (I just gave it some coverage right here, for instance). And I suspect the Conservatives will buy space at gas stations and in more traditional media, because they have money.
But let’s find out. If you see this Conservative ad or one like it, whether at a gas station or during the commercial time on television or radio, log it here in the comments space or email me through the link below. Simply in a sentence or two, no more, please tell us where you saw the ad (physical location if it’s a gas station; city, station and show if it was broadcast); and what the ad’s message was. Please don’t log “free-media” appearances, such as newscasts or journo panels that cover or discuss the ad. What we’re trying to measure here is the geographical distribution of paid ad buys.
We hope to do more of this during a campaign. We have contracted Stéphane Dion to make sure we have plenty of time to work out the details. (Just kidding.) Consider this the shakedown cruise for what should prove to be an interesting new campaign coverage tool.
Thanks in advance for your help
UPDATE, Monday morning: Kady O’Malley discovers that the gas-station ad network that was supposedly going to carry the Tory ads is… not going to carry the Tory ads. No wonder in the comment thread below, nobody’s seen one yet…
SUPER-FILL’ER-UPDATE: Ryan Sparrow is telling Kady he was misquoted. We are waiting to hear which gas-station ad network will carry the Tory ads.
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Comment
James Curran, who was investigated (and later cleared) for fraud on the EDA board of which he is President, is being very deceitful when he says:
“This is the Harper government that campaigned on ‘no GST on fuel if gas rose above 85 cents a litre’. Lying sacks of maneure (sic).”
He fails to mention this was in the 2004 campaign and that Canadians didn’t vote for it. It was promptly dropped as party policy after the loss as the party tried to come up with a winning set of policies – the ones Canadians votes for in 2006.
[...] on Inkless Wells blog, Liberal EDA President James Curran gives us a look at the Liberal Party’s response to [...]
No surprise. The Libs love to censor things.
I so look forward to seeing these on Gas Pumps. Forget Boycott, I’ll shop at gas stations showing these ads.
Ontario is a Nanny State. There is a reason why companies are fleeing Ontario in rapid numbers. Dalton McNutty and the Liberal gang.
Oh goody, a preview of the coming election campaign: Macleans will not spend resources on covering the issues, we’ll be treated to a weekly review of the ads that were announced and didn’t run, followed by a recap of all the advertising that did run. Can hardly wait!
Isn’t Toronto violating Canadians’ rights to free speech by limiting anyone’s right to send out a message, no matter what the medium used?
Of course, given the socialist government of Toronto, what else would you expect from them?
So, do we report Liberal TV & radio ads here too? Or do those go to the National Post?
Just askin’…
During an election campaign, as I already said, Jim, we hope to track all parties’ ads. I did not think the concept would be hard to follow, but it has been a surprising day.
Deb, on the other hand, has us figured. You’re right, Deb. That’s *precisely* how we plan to cover the election. In 2006 we gave the campaign about 10 pages a week and capped it with a 24,000-word account of how the winner got elected. This year, with a larger editorial budget, bigger reporting staff, Andrew Coyne and the certain knowledge, from 2006, that serious political coverage increases circulation, we plan to ignore the issues and dive up our own asses for kicks. I don’t know how you figured it out. We just can’t keep any secrets from you guys.
Radio ad at 6am on June 10th, Kiss-FM Ottawa. what a way to wake up!
capped it with a 24,000-word account of how the winner got elected.
It took 24 000 words to explain that?
…sorry, but I think Deb’s right here. You “journalists” might find this fascinating, but as you should know, close to half of all Canadians (the ones who increasingly don’t vote and don’t seem to care) don’t find it all exactly riveting.
City: Toronto
Station: 99.9fm
Date: june 14
Time: 1:30pm and 5:20pm
City:Ottawa
Station: 106.9
Date: june 16
Time: 7:50am
Thanks Lauren…
Another radio ad, on the same station. By the by, did you know that Dion is not a leader?
City:Eeyou QC
Station: CD 98.9
Date: June 16
Time: 7:40 am
CHUM 104.9FM Toronto approx 7am this morning.
(What can I say, my wife likes their prattling… the CHUM gorms not the Harper phoney-phone-ins)
oops – that’s 104.5. Content was a fake phone in about the “Liberal Tax Trick”
City:Ottawa (Gatineau)
Station: 94.9
Date: june 14
Time: 9:55 AM
Tax on Everything ad.
Toronto, MIX99.9, June 25, 6:15 am.