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New anti-Rob Ford videos carry the feel of election season

How Do You See Toronto? YouTube Video

The Toronto mayoral election is in its infancy but we already have several people working overtime to keep it interesting, including a few anonymous folks providing the campaign's first attack ads.

While Mayor Rob Ford does his best impression of Rob Ford – including being tagged for jaywalking in Vancouver and being the subject of an active criminal investigation – two potential high-profile candidates are also soaking up headlines.

While NDP MP Olivia Chow continues to promote her best-selling memoir, former PC leader John Tory is working damage control over comments he made about gender income inequality.

[ Related: John Tory slammed for suggesting women get paid less because they don’t negotiate ]

That's all well and good, but neither has officially entered the race, leaving Ford as the only household name in the field (apologies to David Soknacki).

Which means that when it comes to attack ads, it is all about Ford. Even if those ads are posted anonymously on YouTube and shared by word-of-mouth alone.

A new video posted on Tuesday, asking if Toronto has an image problem, uses sound bites and quotes snatched directly from Ford's mouth playing over a backdrop of familiar city scenes.

It includes everything from Ford's famous "Orientals work like dogs" comment to his recent "drunken stupors" excuse. My favourite: "All I can do is reassure the people that I don't know what to say."

[ More Brew: Rob Ford jersey curse is real, and it got the Denver Broncos ]

This comes on the heels of another television-worthy ad that, refreshingly, focuses on Ford's record.

The video "Rob Ford's Broken Promises" shows an image of the mayor as a weathervane – a classic political attack ad trope – twisting back and forth and a list of his broken promises is read.

Once the campaign is in full swing with a full slate of candidates, expect such messages to be plentiful. For now, these videos are unique, special snowflakes.

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