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Cost Per Canadian for August 14th
🪓 "Axe the Tax" and other Snake Oils, now on sale.
Frazer Black
August 14, 2024
Cost Per Canadian for August 14th
Presented by Point Blank
Last week, the top ten advertisers in Canada spent $189,860, a jump of another ~$10k over the week before. In this edition of Cost Per Canadian, we look at the use of “Axe the Tax” as a stand-in for more complex cost-of-living conversations, examine attack ads by Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party, and scroll deeper than perhaps we should have into the unserious section of the Meta Ads Library.
Frazer, Digital Director. Point Blank
Seven-Day Ad Spend
(3rd August - 9th August)
Page | Spend |
|---|---|
Center for US Voters Abroad Turnout Project | $38,310 |
UNICEF Canada | $23,451 |
YourAlberta (Government of Alberta) | $21,871 |
Energy United | $19,914 |
Pierre Poilievre | $18,420 |
CUPE Ontario | $16,911 |
Quality Canadian Milk | $15,908 |
Canadian Women’s Foundation | $12,320 |
Canadian Red Cross | $11,843 |
Moodys Tax | $10,612 |
Seven-Day Ad Spend By Federal Party
(3rd August - 9th August)
Party | Spend |
|---|---|
🔵 Conservative Party of Canada Including spend by the leader. | $25,475 Steady (Down <1%) |
🔴 Liberal Party of Canada Including spend by the leader. | $7,910 Down 6% |
🟠 New Democratic Party of Canada Including spend by the leader. | $1,124 Down 57% |
🟢 Green Party of Canada Including spend by the leader. | ≤$100 Down up to 349% |
Noted
A new ad by Energy United.
The carbon tax remains the most frequently used attack vector for conservative-leaning advertisers. The latest ad by Energy United, an energy industry lobby group, is a clear example of this, but it’s hardly unique. Third-party advertisers and political parties alike across the centre and right have all borrowed “Axe the Tax“ in one form or another in campaigns from East to West.
A common pitfall for people who care about making the world a better place is getting trapped in complex policy positions and explainers. Meanwhile, the conservatives (and their allies) do a great job of briefly and simply saying the what ("AXE THE TAX") without even touching the how, when or why. One speedy improvement we can all make is to stop trying to over explain things to people – use the 3-6 seconds you have to grab their attention instead.
Polling from Abacus Data, showing the cost of living crisis is the dominant issue for Canadians. Source.
This trend is unlikely to go anywhere either, as we approach a busy electoral period with several provincial elections on the horizon (including the spectre of a spring Ontario snap election) and a federal election at the end of next year. Recent polling by Abacus Data shows that the rising cost of living is by far and away the issue concerning most Canadians, and the right’s ability to offer up killing the carbon tax as a simple silver bullet that can solve any financial problems for the electorate is a compelling (if not economically illiterate) way of securing voters.
Attack ads against ANDP leader Naheed Nenshi from the United Conservative Party of Alberta.
The United Conservative Party are taking advantage of a political advertising vacuum in Alberta to frame Naheed Nenshi as “Just another tax and spend Liberal.“ In a series of “On the street“interview-style ads and graphic-based narration ads, the UCP attacked Nenshi’s record as Calgary’s mayor and pins him as "Justin Trudeau’s pick for Alberta.”
These attacks aren’t particularly unexpected from the UCP and have been going on since before the end of the leadership race, but what is surprising is the vacuum they find themselves in. Over the last 90 days, Smith’s conservatives have spent nearly $18,000 on ads like this, while the ANDP has spent just $163.
Low spend, low quality, high click-bait
We focus a lot on Canada's highest spenders, but to wrap up this week, let’s instead examine a couple of ads from the bottom of the barrel. CitizenGo, pictured above, is running petition ads raising a recent scene from the Olympic Opening Ceremony as an attack on Christians. They’ve spent about $1,000 in the last thirty days.
Banning ‘woke’ as an adjective is acceptable censorship.
Stop Woke Canada has spent $313 in New Brunswick running some thinly veiled anti-trans ads against NB Liberal leader Susan Holt. They’re being run by a woman from Ontario who has a lot of big feelings that she likes to share on Twitter.
I am not linking to the source of this for obvious reasons.
The digital advertising landscape in 2024 is so precisely targeted that for many people, it’s impossible to know which ads your neighbours, friends and family are being influenced by. We track the biggest spenders and high-profile campaigns every week on Meta, keeping you in the loop regarding what the rest of Canada is seeing.
