"The first time I see one of those gadgets on a pump I’m at will see me putting the nozzle back in its holder before one single drop of gasoline has fallen, walking into the office, and telling the owner/manager that until the propaganda machines disappear s/he has lost my business."
This should work well in the GTA, and its something I will be trying as well. Be sure you let Paul Wells know about every station running these "fuelcasts" that you've told to go shove it. It would be very cool if a few major petro-suppliers could be forced to recant their participation in this campaign.
PS. The stories I am reading suggest these ads will run mostly in GTA and Southern Ontario. This is where a boycott may be most effective.
Update: Bloggers calling for a fuelcast boycott now include Dr. Dawg, Red Tory, and John Waugh. If anyone else wants to join up, please post on the topic.
Further update: Kady the Wunderbabe is reporting that the company the Tories say was hired to coordinate fuelcast ads with GTA gas stations has denied everything. Our boycott has succeeded before it even got started! Paul Wells is reporting that gangs of Tory Yellowshirts have descended on downtown Ottawa, harassing motorists and other passersby. Oh the Humanity!
Yet Further update: It looks like a Toronto-based fuelcast campaign would be illegal in the first place.
Let's simply hammer the bastards. This will prove, I think, to be a case where the blowback exceeds the attack.
ReplyDeleteI hate negative ads as much as the next guy, but a boycott? I mean, am I supposed to boycott CTV, CBC, Global etc. too when they accept negative ads? What about negative ads from the Liberals, NDP and Greens (I'm sure there'll be some) are those boycott worthy too? If the TTC accepts negative ads from the Tories for their flat screens in the subway stations should I boycott the TTC (which it occurs to me would be highly ironic... me, buying a car and spewing out CO2 in order to boycott the TTC for allowing ads attacking the Liberals carbon plan to run on their screens, lol).
ReplyDeleteAs I said, I'm not a fan of negative advertising, but if you really want to take a bite out of negative advertising don't you have to boycott pretty much every broadcaster, publisher or other media outlet in the country? And if the exact same ad from the gas station screens runs on Global or CTV or CBC, how does one justify boycotting the gas station but not the T.V. station?
I guess my main thought is that while I applaud the sentiment, why now? And why a boycott on such a stunningly tiny, and really, insignificant portion of the negative advertising spectrum?
And what if the gas stations all pull the ads? I mean, great and all, but what good does that do except to prove that a concerted effort to stop company Y from doing X (while ignoring companies A, B and C who do the exact same thing) can get company Y to stop doing X. It feels to me kinda like boycotting RC Cola for making sugary drinks while ignoring Coca Cola and Pepsi.
Firstly, boycotts are always good because they involve choices as to where you spend your own money. 2ndly, having to pump gas at $1.35 a litre AND listen to Tory bullshit has to meet some definition of "cruel and unusual punishment". 3rdly, it might just work. "Tory Ad campaign falls to boycott" . Not a bad headline, eh?
ReplyDelete$1.35/l and any political bullshit from any political party means I spend my dollar elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Conservatives now, but if it looks like it works it will be Liberal, NDP, Green, and who knows who else next.
A boycott, drawing media attention to 'Dion's Tax on Everything'...hmmm
ReplyDeleteThe Cons could buy one spot and rotate it daily amongst a large number of stations, and let the boycott do the extra advertising for them.
The media repeating over and over 'Dions Tax Trick' may not get the desired effect you are looking for.
Liberals are funny! Go ahead and boycott all you like...hope you run out of gas on your way to the next pump!>>>LOL>>>>
ReplyDeleteVancouver Conservative
Good luck with your boycott, but tell me something... If you are against these ads because they are negative, does that mean you consider the tax hike a positive thing?
ReplyDeleteAll you GTA apartment dwelling, granola eating, TTC riding, non-smoking, tree-hugging socialists just love the idea of new taxes don't you?
The people who pay for all your pet social programs are getting tired of supporting your latest cause du jour with higher taxes. Go ahead and boycott a gas station if it makes you feel good, but don't stand in the way of someone trying to reduce our tax burden.
I am all for these ads. I'd shop at gas stations that showed these.
ReplyDelete... and will all you good Conservative partisans be equally as happy to see Dion, or Layton spouting their propaganda while you pump your gas if this thing pays off?
ReplyDelete-- and that's exactly what will happen if it does.
Fer-christs-sake-already I wish people could think further ahead than the next election -- it's no bloody wonder that so many of us have simply said f-ck it and opted out of the process completely.
I look forward to Jack Layton's 'stash' on my P-Can pump, or Dion stammer through another english word on my pump. Problem is, none will do it. When it comes to brand marketing, the Conservatives have everyone else beat.
ReplyDeleteWhy do "Conservatives" always sound like they're climaxing whenever they say something?
ReplyDeleteOMG! The Conservatives have nailed this one with their superior marketing and branding strategies!! It's the greatest PR campaign since their last one!! I can't contain myself!!!...It's too much!!!!...
Dial it down you feebs and dweebs, before someone gets it in the eye.
I look forward to Jack Layton's 'stash' on my P-Can pump,
Wow. Hip lingo. I bet he works on CPC ad campaigns.
Illiterate.
Where you been, TiGuy? You just emerge from your coffin? Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteLooks like my fake boycott has totally crushed their fake ad campaign. Booyah!
Not so fast, bcl!
ReplyDeleteThe Sparrow person has said he expects Fuelcast to honour their contract with the CPC>
OT: BCL, a minor mystery has cropped up regarding Lawrence Solomon's involvement with an organization known as Energy Probe. The Stoat awaits enlightenment here.
ReplyDeletejust emerge from your coffin?
ReplyDeleteYes, as a matter of fact. I caught a glimpse of the Toronto Sun passing off idiotic, IQ-lowering CPC political advertising as news free-of-charge on Sunday morning and, well...died.
That execrable rag; no wonder newspaper readership is at an all-time low.