Mute them, channel surf, hide them all you want but there’s no escaping them.
The B.C. government is in the midst of saturating TV shows and social media in the province with a multimillion-dollar back-patting advertising campaign in advance of the 2017 election.
The BC Liberal party is getting in on the act as well with mood-setting political ads. Can’t fault them. They did raise the funds one $10,000 cheque at a time.
It can be tough to distinguish between the two ad campaigns, though. You almost expect the BC Liberal party’s executive director, Laura Miller, to burst through the front doors of the legislature to tag government ads with: “We’re the BC Liberal party and we approve this message too.”
How far does the symbiotic marketing go? Sometimes, the synergy is subtle, sometimes not.
Take the 2013 speech from the throne. The word “economy” left the lips of Lt. Gov. Judith Guichon 23 times, followed by “jobs” at 21 — including seven times in one 26-word passage alone — and “tomorrow” six times.
Buzz phrases also crept into news releases, including: “the right skills for the right job is integral to maintaining a strong economy.”
It wasn’t always this way.
The approach of former premier Gordon Campbell’s administration and that of Premier Christy Clark’s is a study in contrasts. Campbell banned non-essential government advertising in the four months prior to voting day.
The December 2008 B.C. Public Affairs Bureau memorandum to ministries read: “Effective, January 12th, 2009 non-essential advertising will cease until May 13th, 2009. Non-essential advertising (included) any promotional or informational activity conducted by a provincial ministry, authority or agency that is not required for statutory, emergency, health and safety or the proper functioning of government.”
In the two-week period prior to the writ dropping in April 2009, the government issued nine news releases.
What a difference four years makes.
In 2013, the government squeezed six fact sheets and 43 news releases into that two-week period.
The government announced a $584-million program “to seismically upgrade 45 high-risk schools today, marking a significant milestone in [the] government’s commitment to student safety.”
Clark noted: “Absolutely nothing is more important than keeping our kids safe.”
Except electioneering.
The government only got around to announcing many of the schools — and the plans — this year. As long as seismic events are aligned with election cycles, everything should be just fine.
Out of 17 project-specific announcements, 14 were in BC Liberal-held or swing ridings.
Some of the government’s television ads back then were so blatantly partisan that Gerry Nichols — a conservative, independent communications consultant — said they crossed “the line between informational ads and political propaganda.”
CBC deemed the government’s budget ads “advocacy advertisements” and refused to run them during news programs.
And the BC Liberal government is well on its way to meeting or beating the $16.6 million it spent on advertising leading-up to the 2013 election.
In the 2015/’16 fiscal year, spending on advertising more than doubled from nearly $5.7 million the year before to $12.45 million.
Dermod Travis is executive director of IntegrityBC.
www.integritybc.ca
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