This business column by Eric Reguly appeared in the May 10, 2014 Globe and Mail "Report on Business". As we pick up our Saturday Globe, we usually are rather quick to deposit the Report on Business on the recycling pile (not sure that's a good idea or not). This time the headline of the column by Reguly caught Kathleen's attention. In the print version of the May 10 Globe and Mail, the secondary headline (on the continuation of the article on pg. 6) was: "If Canada were responsible, it wouldn't blow small fortunes on deceptive ads". We both found it interesting to find an article with this editorial position in the business section of the Globe. The article begins like this:
The ad in The New Yorker is pretty, if not quite arresting. The full-page photo on the inside back cover – prime real estate in the United States’ leading upmarket magazine – features a pristine river meandering through a lush mountain valley, untouched by humanity. It is not a tourism ad. It is designed to convince influential Americans that the Keystone XL pipeline is environmentally safe, even desirable.
What is clever about the ad is not the photo; it is the headline and the succinct lines of copy beneath it. They are slick pieces of propaganda Рmisleading without being outright lies. Of course, advertising is all about propaganda. But this ad is unconscionable because you, the Canadian taxpayer, paid for it. The rate for a full-page ad in that location, according to Cond̩ Nast, publisher of The New Yorker, is $207,000 (U.S.).
You can read the entire article by clicking here.
- Submitted by Gareth and Kathleen
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