09-23-2008
Spot Check: A regular look at the latest ads from the parties
By Shannon Proudfoot
Canwest News Service
Liberal ads juxtapose Stephen Harper's recent assertions about a strong Canadian economy against headlines about job losses and a claim that Harper is cutting economic growth. (Canwest News Service) Liberals
The Spot: "Harpernomics and you"
The plot: Juxtaposes Stephen Harper's recent assertions about a strong Canadian economy against headlines about job losses and a claim that Harper is cutting economic growth while "families struggle to get by."
The bottom line: "Do you really want more of this?"
The message: "This ad continues the shift by the Liberals away from promoting their agenda to attack advertising," says Gordon McMillan, president of Ottawa-based marketing agency McMillan.
"The Tory strategy has put Harper front and centre in the campaign; now the Liberals are trying to turn that against them by suggesting Harper is out of touch on the economy."
"The new Liberal ad tries to undermine Harper's strengths by painting a bleak economic picture and blaming it on the Conservatives," says Jason Shields, 38, a voter and IT consultant in Vancouver.
The review: "This notion of 'Harpernomics' does allow the Liberals to run an underlying theme through some more ads and this could stick," says McMillan. "I think it will start to sow seeds of doubt, but with the Liberals down in the polls, it will take much more than this to swing voters towards the Liberals."
"The ad may backfire because Conservative support only seems to grow as confidence in the economy falls," says Shields.
"Also, the Liberal message of a weak economy is at odds with their own campaign platform which assumes a growing economy, so something just doesn't add up."
Posted by: aterry