Canadian Political Advertising

The Use of Television and Radio in Political Campaigns

Sep 7, 2009

Political parties have long used television and media to spread their message. Michael Ignatieff is just one politician to make use of the internet for communication.

On September 6th, 2009, Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, released a few campaign-style television advertisements, designed to criticize the controlling conservatives. These directed commercials are reminiscent of many of the advertisements that one will see on Canadian television, relating to political action and opinion.

Of course, Ignatieff explained that Canada "needs a new way of thinking, a government that thinks big, that has a global perspective." This rhetoric, used often in all political advertising, speaks of a needed change, with the speaker often taking the role of the one to provide it.

The CBC, Canada's national broadcasting company, has some rules regarding politcal advertising. Firstly, only authorized political parties are able to run commercials relating to politics, and even then, only during a period of an election. There are also regulations that ensure that all parties receive an equal share of time with which to advertise. Finally, the CBC will not run any ads that might bring doubt to the neutrality of the CBC's coverage of the election and the parties within.

History of Canadian Political Advertising

For a very long time, politicians have used advertising as a way to affect the opinions of the public. To go along with this, for as long as there have been ads, there have been controversies to go with them. It wasn't until 1992 that the law requiring equal representation of time in advertising was passed, decreasing some of the unfairness that existed beforehand. Now that the public makes use of many more mediums than television, there is additional controversy relating to advertising.

Political Advertising on the Internet

Michael Ignatieff released his add via Facebook and YouTube. This is evidence of new ground in relation to political advertising, as it is much harder for the law to administer what the public sees in such user-driven sites. There are also issues relating to which age groups primarily use which mediums, all of which will need to be navigated by Canadian Political Parties. This applies to the future as well, for as mobile phones and text messages become more widely used, there are even more opportunities for political message.

As long as there are Political Conflicts, there will be advertising to go with them. Ignatieff's commercials were just one example of the myriad of messages that are pushed out by political parties toward the public. The insulted conservatives will be likely to reply with their own message, through similar means.

Sources

BNC101

The copyright of the article Canadian Political Advertising in Canadian Politics is owned by Stuart Cooke. Permission to republish Canadian Political Advertising in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.