Interview-style attack ad makes yet another round

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This article was published 11/09/2015 (3690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA – A provincial NDP attack ad that helped propel the party to its largest majority ever has now been adopted by their federal cousins to attack Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But the federal NDP is actually the fourth party to use the job-interview concept as an attack ad, which shows a group of people sitting around a boardroom table, discussing a particular candidate.

In the original Manitoba NDP ad, they discussed then-provincial Tory leader Hugh McFadyen and determined he was “too big a risk.”

At the end they quip, “nice suit, though":

The Conservative Party version, first released last May and aired in various versions since the election began, shows another group discussing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. They determine he’s "just not ready," but quip, "nice hair, though":

The federal Liberals responded in June with an internet ad that didn’t use the exact same concept but was clearly a play on it. Instead of people sitting around a boardroom, the ad shows the hands of someone rifling through a file on Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a “job review.”

When a photo of Harper with a panda bear appears the narrator quips “Nice photo op, though” before determining it is “definitely time for a change":

Friday, the federal NDP got skin in the game with an interview ad, reviewing the job performance of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

It is a clear spoof of the Conservative ad; it notes NDP leader Tom Mulcair is “ready” and says of Harper, “it’s time to let him go.”

But, “nice hair, though,” says one of the actors:

“We’ve had a pretty good chuckle about it,” said Marie Della Mattia, President of The Now Group, the Vancouver-based advertising agency which created the original ad in 2011.

The original Manitoba version of the ad was a clear winner and had local Manitoba Tories steamed because it was so effective. In July, Forum Research polled Canadians about the Conservative version and found the reach was wide, with two-thirds of Canadians being aware of the ad.

But its effectiveness was unclear, since one-third of people who remembered it said they were actually more likely to vote for the Liberals after seeing it.

However, a more recent Forum Research poll suggests the message Trudeau is “just not ready” to be prime minister has hit home, with half of Canadians believing that to be true.

‘Obviously it’s still working’

Della Mattia said the original ad was the result of a brainstorming session and was based on the idea of putting the power of decision making in the hands of voters. Like the boardroom people, voters were deciding whether or not to “hire” someone based on their resume.

“It was very carefully crafted to speak to what people’s concerns were about Hugh McFadyen,” she said. “At the time it wasn’t the typical kind of attack ad. I think it’s the human aspect that was the most innovative part of it and obviously it’s still working.”

Della Mattia said it’s unusual for an advertisement to be so clearly stolen.

“It wasn’t just ‘let’s use the same concept,” she said. “It was a total rip-off.”

She said it’s the same right down to the cadence used by the actors in delivering their lines.

Now Group didn’t take any action about the plagiarism because she said there wasn’t much point.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

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The federal NDP did not turn to Now Group to make their version of the ad, but Della Mattia said it was very effective.

“They have cleverly turned the tables on it, they made it about a performance review and they injected their guy into it,” she said.

Because of the longer election call parties have more than twice the amount of money to spend. They all held their fire to a large extent during the first half of the campaign, so the next five weeks will likely see a significant increase in the amount of political advertising on television and radio.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca