Toyota Commitment TV commercial
Toyota recalls better days
Talk about shooting the messenger: In the southeastern United States, 173 Toyota dealers have pulled their ad dollars from local ABC television stations for running "excessive stories" about the auto maker's recall. Toyota, meanwhile, has begun airing frequent TV ads touting its dedication to "making things right," as well as radio spots and banner ads on 400 websites. The company has not disclosed how much it is spending on damage control. Perhaps if Toyota wants to make things right, it can send some of those ad dollars to the boycotted TV stations.
Offensive play
Gay rights groups are calling out Britain's Football Association for its last-minute decision to delay a campaign aimed at eradicating homophobic behaviour at games. This week the FA cancelled an event at Wembley Stadium, where a video was to be shown encouraging soccer fans to show some respect to players. It seems the FA was uneasy about the content of the video, in which a man hurls homophobic insults at everyone he meets, including players at a game. The FA signed off on the idea two years ago but strayed from the game plan when it saw the final product.
Never forget who your friends are
In case Americans forgot Canadians are important friends, they're about to be reminded, over and over. The Canadian American Business Council is running a TV ad dozens of times during Vancouver Olympic coverage via NBC's affiliate in Washington. The spot gently reminds Americans they are reliant on us for energy and exports. The council says the ad targets bigwigs "inside the Beltway," some of whom have been critical of oil sands development. We're sure once they see this ad - and Joannie Rochette's figure skating prowess - it will all be water under the bridge.
You say "special information feature," we say "ad"
Speaking of oil sands critics, the Sierra Club of Canada is taking Shell and CanWest to task for a series of print and online ads it says violate advertising standards. The full-page ad contains a headline, photos and a feel-good story describing what Shell has done to help the environment. A small label indicates the content is "a six-week CanWest special information feature on climate change, in partnership with Shell Canada," but does not call it advertising or mention that it was paid for by Shell. The environmental lobby group has complained to Advertising Standards Canada.
An expensive lesson
The Ontario government threw its PR machine into high gear yesterday with the launch of a print and online campaign aimed at educating people about impending tax harmonization, which promises to raise prices on everything from haircuts to funerals. The Liberals may be digging their own graves, however, by using taxpayers' money to fund the $1.6-million campaign. As one Conservative critic points out, the Liberals have killed two promises with one stone: the promise to not raise taxes and the promise to ban partisan advertising.
Dianne Nice