It would sure be nice to watch a Vancouver Canucks game on TV without the recurring "Adrian Dix is evil" commercial.
What's wrong with a good ole fashioned Molson Canadian ad? It's a hockey game.
To nobody's real surprise, B.C. Liberal supporters began a barrage of venom-spewing attack ads against the opposition leader in January, the first round targeting his falsifying of a document during his days as a government staffer.
"Adrian Dix, a risk we can't afford."
Attack ads have been around for years, but they became an exact science in 1988 with the "weekend pass" ads launched against U.S. presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. It made convicted killer Willie Horton a household name and helped George Bush Sr. secure victory.
But this is Canada and aren't we supposedly above all of that? Are we not the nation known for being oh so nice?
Attack advertising doesn't really fit into our portfolio as a province or a nation. Supporters of the present government believe voters need to be
reminded of past inadequacies, blaming the media for not doing its job. (This same mainstream media, by the way, didn't regularly remind voters during the 2009 campaign of Gordon Campbell's highly embarrassing drunk driving charge in Hawaii. It does work both ways.)
Dix has vowed that the NDP will speak about its own accomplishments and avoid attack ads, believing British Columbians don't want to see or hear them.
So why have the attack ads begun even before the writ has been dropped? Because they work.
- Penticton Herald Managing Editor James M. Miller