Tory Clips

August1991 · April 22, 2004

These Tory TV clips are now out here:

They are zipped so you have to save, extract and then watch with a player. Not user friendly - but that doesn't matter because they don't aim for Internet people.

There are two English clips and one French clip. The first English one is really good (IMV) but the French one is amazing.

When I first heard on CBC Radio a few days ago that the Tory slogan was "Demand Better", I thought "how dumb". Canadians never demand. We ask politely. Why not "Expect Better"? (And that's as dumb as "Demand Better".)

The first clip puts the slogan in perspective. This is the Canadian in New York saying politely "I'm Canadian."

The French clip? "En avez-vous assez?" and "C'est assez." Wow! They could have gone further and said "Ça suffit" or even better, "Minute papillon". Brilliant, with an English accent that just gets it.

My old Liberal Newfie aunt is going to think Stephen Harper is the nephew she never had.

Dennis · April 22, 2004

Interesting.

Actually, there are two versions of each of the clips. The preview version is much shorter and does not have to be unzipped. I found them here: http://www.mediaservicesgroup.net/cpoc/tv.html

Regarding the slogan, I too didn't think much of it when I first heard about it. However, I think it becomes catchy the more you say it to yourself, especially in the context of a well-delivered political message. Demand Better. Its memorable and on message, which is what you want in a political slogan.

The NDP slogan, which is two forgettable phrases back-to-back, is probably the exact opposite of what you want. No is going to remember it and, hence, the purpose of the slogan is lost.

Regarding the ads, they seemed like standard Harper stuff. The meat is in the content as opposed to the style.

He toots his own party's horn, criticizes the liberals, does it in a very polite fashion, and is not afraid to come out himself and say these things, despite Liberal efforts to attack him.

Plus, more people need to know who he is.

I think these ads pretty much do that.