For example, a consensus seems to have emerged among journalists that those infamous anti-Trudeau attack spots and those ubiquitous Economic Action Plan ads are both utter and complete failures.
And I suppose they can be deemed as failures, unless you look at them from a long-term perspective, in which case a different picture emerges.
To see what I mean, let’s first consider those controversial anti-Trudeau TV ads, the ones which aired in the spring and which informed Canadians that Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was supposedly “in over his head.”
These attack ads were flops, say many media critics, because they did nothing to dent Trudeau’s popularity; in fact, his polling numbers actually went up.
And there’s no denying that’s true.
But when analyzing these ads it’s important to keep in mind that they aired just days after Trudeau won the Liberal leadership race, a time when he was enjoying overwhelmingly positive media coverage and was just at the beginning stages of his “honeymoon” period.
When a politician is experiencing that kind of a “love-in” with the media and the public, it’s hard to imagine how any negative ad could have much of an impact.
So why did the Tories go on the attack?
Well, they had two goals. First, they wanted to mobilize their own base. Second, and much more importantly, they simply wanted to plant the seeds of doubt about Trudeau’s leadership abilities in the minds of voters.
In other words, the anti-Trudeau ads were designed to lay the groundwork, so that voters would be more susceptible to future Conservative attacks on the Liberal leader.
Indeed, recent polls indicate that despite all the scandals plaguing the Conservative government, the Tory base is still holding firm and Trudeau’s popularity is starting to wane.
So maybe those Tory attack ads worked after all.
Now, let’s talk about those taxpayer-funded Economic Action Plan ads, which trumpet the Conservative government’s stimulus spending programs.
Some say these ads are a dud because according to a recent survey they aren’t motivating Canadians to do anything.
Out of the 2,003 survey respondents, only three checked out the government’s Action Plan website and not one called the toll-free telephone number highlighted in the ads.
This, to be sure, sounds pretty damning, unless you consider the real purpose of these Economic Action Plan ads, which by the way isn’t about getting people to visit websites or to call toll free telephone numbers.
Their real purpose is to reinforce the notion among voters that Conservatives are competent economic managers, who are creating jobs, helping businesses and just generally moving the country in the right direction.
This is why those Economic Action Plan TV ads, as annoying as they might be, will continue to saturate Canada’s airwaves over the next two years.
It’s all part of a long-term, two-prong strategy, which will see the Conservatives use party attack ads to chip away at Trudeau’s credibility and positive government ads to keep the issue of the economy front and centre.
At the end of the day, the Conservatives hope this tactic will persuade Canadians that it would be a bad idea to replace Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wonderful Economic Action Plan with the inexperienced and planless Trudeau.
Of course, it might not work, but we won’t know for sure until after the votes are counted in 2015.
That’s why, when it comes to the Tory ad strategy, the media shouldn’t rush to judgment.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: Gerry Nicholls
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