Canada PoliticsCanadians annoyed at Economic Action Plan commercials during the Oscars
If you watched the Oscars on Sunday night — like 7 million of your Canadian brethren — you undoubtedly noticed those darn economic action plan commercials paid for by the the Government of Canada (aka the taxpayer).
Even during Hollywood's biggest night, many Canucks took to Twitter to vent their frustrations about the costly prime-time ads.
Economic Action Plan AD - DRINK!!!!! (And submit ATIPs) #Oscars
— James Valcke (@ValckeNDP) February 25, 2013
Screw these Economic Action Plan commercials.... They're ruining my #Oscars experience! #cdnpoIi
— Pavan Sapra (@pavansapra) February 25, 2013
Also: who needs Telefilm funding when we can just film Canada's Economic Action Plan commercials? #Oscars #cdnpoli — Paul Nixey (@paulnixey) February 25, 2013
Watching Oscars on ABC. No Canada Action Plan commercials, Yay! #cdnpoli
— Pamela Allard (@pam_unapathetic) February 25, 2013
How many times will the Conservatives play Royal Action Plan adds during the #Oscars? How much must Canadians pay for their vanity? #cdnpoli — Jeff Clark (@JeffClark1969) February 25, 2013
Notice how the useless EAP CPC Ads appear during all the mega TV shows like the #Oscars. Political advertising at taxpayers expense #cdnpoli
— Errol Mendes (@3mendous) February 25, 2013
Economic Action Plan ad count: 6!
— Jess Chapman (@Jess_TFA) February 25, 2013
An Economic Action Plan ad during the Oscars... What are you doing with our money Mr. Harper? #oscars #cdnpoli — Aaron Manton (@hegemonybuffet) February 25, 2013
As recently explained by CBC Radio's The Current, the federal government has spent more than $60 million since 2009 on commercials, signage and a web site for its economic action plan. The ad budget for the current quarter has included money for TV rating bonanzas such as Hockey Night in Canada, the Super Bowl and the Oscars.
[ Related: How much did the Harper government spend on their Super Bowl ads? ]
According to the Canadian Press, Canadians are really getting tired of them.
Eight polls the Finance Department commissioned between 2009 and 2012 suggest the TV, radio, print and Internet ads are starting to fizzle — and annoying some people.
The most-recently released survey has respondents calling the material “propaganda” and a “waste of money,” while fewer people than ever are taking any action after viewing the ads.
Unfortunately, don't expect these types of ads to stop anytime soon.
[ Related: Government ad spending on economy balloons under Conservatives since recession ]
When pollsters asked a group of people who hadn't seen the economic action plan ads if they approved of the overall performance of the government, only 42 per cent of them said yes.
When pollsters asked the same question to the group that had seen the ads, 47 per cent of them said yes.
In other words, while the ads might be annoying the heck out some of us, they are politically effective.
Your tax dollars at work.
(Photo is a screen grab from actionplan.gc.ca)
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