Canadian focus groups shocked by topless statues on WW I memorial shown on $20 bill

Journalists really have to stop basing their coverage of political issues on Access to Information requests for focus group results.

Here's a scoop: sometimes, focus group participants say stupid things.

Case in freaking point: CTV reports that focus groups shown Canada's new $20 bill design complained about "pornographic" images of partially nude women and "the twin towers" from 9/11.

They were looking at an engraving of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France, a world famous monument to First World War Canadian soldiers killed or presumed dead in France who have no known grave.

And, being a neoclassical kind of monument, it includes naked boobies:

Oh! The humanity.

I would like to ask the journalistic community to please stop making Canadians look so ignorant.

Also, nudity in currency notes is classy.

Dove provides yet another new perspective on beauty

Dove Canada would like you to think twice about your perception of beauty. 

According to their Newswire release, the ads "spark a conversation around how extreme re-touching of images can go unnoticed and can distort a woman's perception of beauty." 

It also adds, "ATTENTION PHOTO EDITORS:  Image provided should be run upside down to deliver full impact of campaign."

But since turning non-mobile computers upside down to decode a print ad is rather awkward, here it is:

Her eyes and mouth had been digitally flipped so that they looked normal when you saw them upside down, but when you turned... yikes!

Inversion illusions are not new to advertising, and were once even used to make dirty jokes:

Here's an example of the same trick: (You may recognize the smile)

Dove's campaign leads to  their Canadian Facebook page, where they hope to engage girls in a more positive discussion about beauty. "The Real Truth About Beauty Research",  conducted by Dove, found that only 9% of Canadian girls (10-17) and 3% of women are comfortable calling themselves beautiful.

And to add a little cross-mojination to my blog, here's that ad run through the Ugly Meter I blogged about earlier:

Oh, my!

Tip via Because I Am A Girl Canada

Wendy's Canada "poutitions" parliament to recognize our national dish

Update: Wendy's e-mailed me with the following:

"Thank you for mentioning the Wendy’s Poutition in your latest blog post. We just wanted to clarify that we have yet to reach our goal of 100,000  signatures (we’re at 2,465 as of today)."

Which confused the hell out of me, because the "progress" graphic said they had reached their goal. (Turns out its the default screen you get if you try to look at the "poutition" without "liking" the page first.)

Anyway, if you want to pitch for poutine, you still have a chance...

That's right. The goopy, seems-like-a-great-idea-after-last-call, mix of fries gravy and curd cheese that Quebec gave Canadians everywhere: Poutine.

In a pretty clever Facebook promotion, Wendy's Canada is asking Canadians to "like" its page and sign the "poutition". If they get 100,000 clicktivists, they say they'll officially submit it to Parliament for consideration.

And they've apparently made it.

I assume the Opposition NDP will support the motion, seeing as they have so much support in poutine's homeland of Quebec. And the majority Conservatives, who were mostly shut out of seats in Quebec, and are still looking to make in-roads to the major Ontario urban centres where poutine is popular, will find this issue worth considering. (The third-party Liberals, in honour of long-serving Prime Minister Jean Poutine, will likely vote on party lines.)

The idea of making a classic Quebec comfort food Canada's "national" dish is likely to cause some controversy, however. First of all because it is already a "national" dish in the nation-within-a-nation that is Quebec. Second, many Westerners have yet to be converted to the ultimate junk food.

But I think it's a nice way to acknowledge that most great Canadian cultural icons come from Quebec: jazz legend Oscar Peterson, Oscar-winning Director Denys Arcand, Captain of the Goddamn Starship Enterprise William Shatner, Celine D-...  Did I mention the Captain of the Goddamn Starship Enterprise?

Even Wendy's has seen fit to make this an opportunity for the "Rest of Canada" to make Quebec feel more loved, even going so far as to parody the federalist slogan "My Canada Includes Quebec".

DDB's new autoTRADER ad is awesomesauce

Okay, here's a pretty good one.

autoTRADER Canada's new ad takes a really great insight — that anyone can suddenly find they no longer love their car — and turns it into some good storytelling about some self-defined badass guys, a nuclear family, and wannabe badasses in the suburbs.

The stereotypes are played straight, without too much comedic embellishment. Nobody (except the dudes at the end) is treated with disrespect. Even the car is seen as being right for somebody.



Awesome work, DDB Canada!

Via Illegal Advertising.

This Easter, give someone a real bunny to eat

Horrified vegetarians and rabbit-lovers aside, it's actually a great cause. For a $35 donation, Plan Canada will add matching funds and send an orgy of six sex-crazed rabbits to a family in the developing world to breed for food.

According to the site:

"Working out the math for this gift could keep anyone hopping. Six rabbits, which can breed up to 10 bunnies every 31 days, can also create an instant business for a family. That business means food on the table and an income to pay for housing, healthcare and education. All of which adds up to families in charge of their lives, children with opportunities, and hope that will reproduce just as rapidly as this gift."

Thanks to Because I am a Girl Canada for the great gift idea that can start to reverse the karma of all that non-fairtrade chocolate you've probably eaten.

These porn ads are so fatuous

These ads for MTS's Amour TV "adult" channel remind me of that great scene in The Big Lebowski.

İzleyin: Geleneksel Big Lebowski festivali

[Maude shows the porn video starring Bunny to the Dude]
Sherry in 'Logjammin': [on video] "You must be here to fix the cable."
Maude Lebowski: Lord. "You can imagine where it goes from here."
The Dude: "He fixes the cable?"
Maude Lebowski: "Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey"

But in these ads, the creative team at Dare Vancouver isn't being fatuous at all:


Amour 'Dirty Pool' from thisisdare on Vimeo.



Amour 'Officer Biggs' from thisisdare on Vimeo.



Amour 'Special Delivery' from thisisdare on Vimeo.


Personally, I think it would have been even better as a campaign for censorware.

Tip Via Ads of The World
Embeds via Joey Tomatoes 

Hilarious political bus wrap gaffe

This bus wrap, for Alberta Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith, is quite the "oops".

CBC reports that the campaign office is concerned that this design "oversight" is a "distraction" and that it  will be changed immediately. I'm amazed the bus ever saw the light of day.

Ms. Smith is running in the 2012 Alberta provincial election in the southern riding of Highwood. She describes herself as a conservative who is "libertarian and pro-choice."

So, lets just have a good chuckle over the mistake and let her get back in the saddle. She deserves our respect. Just as soon as we get this image out of our minds.

Thanks to Eric for sharing.

Canadian Parliament to face the "personhood" debate

Sharable ad from the "Not Yet Born" blog,
linked from Stephen Woodworth's official site.

If there's one issue Canada's majority Conservative government would rather not talk about, it's abortion. Not covered by any specific legislation since 1988, the deeply divisive medical procedure is something many Canadians, regardless of their personal beliefs, just don't feel comfortable talking about in public.

That may soon change, however, as Kitchener's Conservative MP, backbencher Stephen Woodworth, has convinced his party to let him have an hour of Parliament's time to discuss Motion 312, his request that "a special committee of the House be appointed and directed to review the declaration in Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada which states that a child becomes a human being only at the moment of complete birth and to answer the questions hereinafter set forth."

The Honourable Member has positioned himself as the Canadian champion of this cause, similar to the American anti-abortion Personhood movement.

In his own words:

“Canada’s 400 year old definition of human being says children are not human beings until the moment of complete birth”, he said.  “I’ve concluded that modern medical science will inform us that children are in reality human beings at some point before the moment of complete birth.  Canadians need to know there’s no human rights for children before complete birth.
...
A respectful dialogue to update a 400 year old definition of human being with the aid of twenty-first century information will benefit everyone. Whatever view one has about other issues, does it make medical sense in the twenty-first century to say that a child is not a human being until the moment of complete birth?  Members of Parliament have a duty not to accept any law that says some human beings are not human.”

The complication, of course, comes when we try to determine what makes a developing human a "person".

In the United States, the debate is a religious one:

"Personhood is a movement working to respect the God-given right to life by recognizing all human beings as persons who are 'created in the image of God' from the beginning of their biological development, without exceptions."

 This has resulted in attempts to overthrow the legality of abortion in some states, such as Mississippi (where the failed "personhood amendment"would have given full legal rights to a fertilized egg) and Ohio (where the "heartbeat bill" pending debate would ban abortions at the first recordable sign of cardiovascular activity around 9+ weeks).

Mr. Woodworth is proposing a "scientific" approach to determining what makes  human a "person" under the law. But such definitions will by their very nature be philosophical, since the definition must be clarified to be tested: does a heartbeat make us fully human? Reaction to outside stimulus? Observable brain activity? The ability to survive outside the womb? Or simply having been fertilized, and therefore having become genetically distinct from the mother?

This is a classic "slippery slope", an it slides in two opposite directions. On one end is the total ban on abortion from the moment of conception. On the other is the ability to terminally abort a healthy full-term baby. (Nobody really wants the latter, but it's what Mr. Woodworth is implying as the problem.)

In the end, it will come to the same argument about whose rights triumph: a self-aware pregnant woman's control over her own body versus the state's power to compel her to carry the developing human inside her to term. And it will be ugly.

WTM endorses: Hayley Wade for VP, Student Life

UPDATE: She won.

She seems like a nice young woman:

"Hey everyone!  

My name is Hayley Wade and I am running for VP Student Life in the Students’ Union election this upcoming March. I would love and appreciate your support with this endeavor! I have big goals for this position, and I with your help, I know I can achieve them. If you would like to learn more about what I want to do to help you, please check out my platform and feel free to ask me about any questions you may have! If you support me and the great goals I have for this position, please spread the word about my campaign and tell everyone you know, to VOTE HAYLEY WADE from March 6 - 8!
You can also follow my campaign on twitter @voteHAYLEY, send me an email voteHAYLEY@hotmail.com and join the Facebook group - vote HAYLEY WADE for VP Student Life 

Thank you for your support! Please let me know what I can do to help you!"

Ms. Wade was just your average Canadian student politician. Until this campaign poster (said to be strategically placed above urinals on campus) hit Reddit. And Copyranter. And Buzzfeed.

I actually think it's a brilliant campaign poster. But is she really behind it?

According to OpenFile, this was her response on social media (note avatar):

And here she is on Twitter:

So I'll put this down as "not a prank". And I wish Ms. Wade the best of luck.

Canada for President!

"In our riots, people get laid"

This cute video proposes a third option to cynical American voters for the 2012 Presidential Election: Canada.

Think about it: better healthcare, a stronger economy, poutine... we really have a lot to offer. And, as the Canada Party points out, we've been getting more American lately anyway.



The video could have been much funnier, but according to an interview in the Scottish ad blog, The Drum, there are many more campaign ads to come between now and November.

Here's the background:

"[Brian] Calvert and American-born writer Chris Cannon developed the idea while throwing around concepts for a politically-based comedy project and Cannon's idea of Canada as a political party. 

Of the present US election debate, Calvert says, 'I can't believe anyone can see who to vote for.' 

Filmed in a friend's living room, the video has the national anthem, O Canada, playing softly in the background as Calvert pokes fun at both America and his homeland. 

Running on a platform of 'America, but better,' Calvert explained the theme was actually a position many political candidates were taking: restoring American to its former glory.
Putting aside that it's a country and not a person, Calvert acknowledges that Canada was not born in the U.S. 

'But the first seven presidents weren't born in America," he says. "Both of our parents are the British, so it's like we're brothers.'"

Graceful sexploitation?

It's a very cool ad, actually, even though its anonymous sexuality evokes the James Bond era of the original series. But hey — the ad's made in Montreal (by BBR). And it's actually a lot classier that the usual exploitation of the series' Canadian female lead, Grace Park.

There's another ad in the campaign, but it's not that notable.

Via Ads of The World

Christmas toys weigh in on the abortion debate

via AdFreak

Thanks, Niagara Region Right to Life. Because what a complex scientific and ethical debate about the nature of humanity and reproductive rights really needs... is more crying nutcrackers.

The most confusing thing I have seen all week

Fortunately, it's only Monday morning.

It's an ambient idea from CP+B Canada, for Tourism Toronto. But what is it?

According to the submission on Ads of The World:

"In order to curate the vacation photos Toronto visitors take and put online, we unleashed 21, 8-foot snowmen designed by top contemporary artists and placed strategically at key tourist spots in the city. When you take a photo with the snowmen, a famous Toronto scene is featured as the backdrop. And to encourage the photos would be shared, Tourism Toronto is donating $2 to Starlight Children’s Foundation for every snowman photo uploaded to the campaign’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/visittoronto, up to $50,000. And, we’ve integrated each photo takers’ network, by offering another $1 for every ‘Like’ each photo generates, further expanding this campaign’s reach. To date, more than $24,000 has been raised."

I would like to point out that this submission comes from a country in which English is frequently spoken. "In order to curate"? Okay, that's just shitty jargon. But the rest of the write-up is similarly convoluted.

They set up giant snowmen in popular Toronto tourism photo op sites, then provided a fundraising incentive to share them on Tourism Toronto's Facebook page and get their friends involved. Was that so hard to say?

I am amazed that such a famous agency brand would leave the adblog PR to someone who don't write good.

But the most confusing thing about it all is this:

Why does the snow"man" have a vulva?

"Pregnant" Passat ad delivers absurdity and controversy

Noah shared with me a post from Art Threat titled "Why is CBC running sexist Volkswagen ads?", because he knows I can't walk away from a good ad outrage.

Here it is:




And here is the rage:

"The story’s focus quickly turns from the pregnant woman to silly interactions between the husband and the paramedic on different features included in the new Passat. While the viewer is naturally curious about the pending child delivery that launched the ad narrative, the camera cuts to extended interior car shots, completely erasing the pregnant woman from the visuals. 

Cutting back to the unfolding scene, the woman cries out for help as the guys incessantly confer on the car. “Starts with a button?” asks the paramedic. “Sure does” responds the husband, continuing on in blatant disrespect to a woman in need of support. 

The ad finishes with the husband swinging the driver seat door closed on the pregnant partner calling for support. “Guys? Having a baby here!” cries the pregnant women as the men stupidly admire the car. 

This Volkswagen ad, rooted in a overtly sexist storyline, clearly crosses a red line in celebrating an automobile over human life."

The author, Stefan Christoff, then proceeds to talk about the toxicity of (North) American car culture, referring to the Passat vid as a "disturbing ad celebrating a new car over childbirth".

But me, I'm just not feeling it. For all my ranting about sexism in advertising, cultural cancers like car obsession, and threats to the sacredness of motherhood, I just can't conjure up any outrage over this ad. None.

The ad, by Toronto agency Red Urban and director Jean-Michel Ravon, certainly does cross a line. But it's not a line of sexism, for me, it's the line of absurdity.

Online ads, like this one, need to be entertaining to hold viewer attention. This one is comedy. And I think there are both men and women in the target audience who will find it funny.

The concept could have used someone in another urgent hospital situation, but that would not have been as funny. The very fact that we so cherish motherhood, that for the man this should be the most important day of his life, that the paramedic is supposed to be 100% focussed on the patient... all the kinds of wrong that this scenario is are essential to its entertainment value.

Does it trot out the tired old "clueless husband" trope? Definitely. That's the most sexist thing about this ad, the way it treats the men. The woman, on the other hand, is the "straight man" in all of this. Her awareness of the seriousness of her situation anchors the complete absurdity of the guys' reactions.

It's not a great ad. But I think it is an effective one. And I don't think any women were harmed in the making of it.

Then again, I'm a man. What's your take?

New web series accelerates the Starbucksization of McDonald's Canada

McDonald's Canada continues to try to be Starbucks. First it was better coffee. Then it was the "McCafé" makeover at their restaurants. Now, they've hired a sitcom writer to make them McDonald's-promoting webisodes of something derivative of Seinfeld, Friends and The Office:



It's purposefully awkward, with hamfisted product placements. But will it convince Canadians that McDick's is a cool place to hang out all day, sip a latte, and enjoy free wifi? Isn't that something the Starbucks has decided isn't really a great business model?



I just don't get it. McDonald's brand is built on cheap comfort food and parents buying their children's love with Happy Meals. The sooner they drop the pretentious makeover, the better.

Tip via Burger Business