Candidates vie for street cred

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This article was published 29/09/2023 (709 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As orders piled in before the writ drop, Don Gaye braced for a period of poor sleep — an inevitable byproduct of being in the printing business during a provincial election.

The longtime owner of Norwood’s Sign Source worked nearly 19 hours daily for two weeks straight in order to fulfil political candidates’ lawn sign requests this summer.

“Fortunately, we’re almost at the end of it,” Gaye said. “(Oct. 3) is my glory day. It’s marked on the calendar — then, we can move on in life.”

City print shops charge about $5 per classic lawn sign (16 inches by 24 inches).

Since Coroplast signs — lightweight, waterproof placards often used by political candidates and realtors — are not high-margin products, Gaye said it’s only worthwhile to produce them in large quantities.

“You know it’s going to be a tough slog (when any election is approaching). It’s going to be about a month and a half where holy cow, the demands are extreme, as far as the amount you need to produce in a certain amount of time,” he said.

In recent weeks, his shop has accepted candidate orders ranging from $400 to $5,000.

There was one “baby order” of 36 small signs while other candidates ordered upwards of 500 placards of varying sizes, Gaye said, noting individuals seeking re-election generally order less than rookies because the former group can re-use previous campaign materials.

The competitiveness of a constituency is a key factor that comes into play when candidates are sourcing signs, he added.

Political parties’ overall signage expenses are not yet available.

Individual nominees may receive a customizable template, but they are responsible for deciding how many signs, if any, to purchase to advertise their candidacy. Receipts are submitted after an election period.

Lawn signs are a timeless tool because they are “pretty cost-effective,” reach voters who actively avoid news media coverage, and are an effective way to make an impression, said Lam An, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Winnipeg.

“The more people see it, the more familiar they get with the names, subconsciously,” An said. “Impressions can be formed in less than one-tenth of a second.”

During the last provincial race, the Progressive Conservatives spent the most on signage and structural support, with a total of $17,511 earmarked for those expenses. The runner-up Manitoba NDP paid $13,103.

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The Manitoba Liberal Party reported $3,639. The Greens disclosed $922.

Those figures represent 1.4, 2.4, three and 13.3 per cent of each party’s overall campaign budget.

Then-PC party leader Brian Pallister budgeted $1,019 for his personal campaign signs, or 10 per cent of his total expenses in 2019.

Wab Kinew, who is at the helm of the official Opposition, paid $4,534, accounting for about 19 per cent of his overall costs.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.