Also: Stephen Likes Veterans, Stephen Likes Immigrants
Initial Reaction: Who is this man and what has he done with the vindictive bully I’ve come to know and love over the past three years?
Ad Intent: Soften Harper up. “Uncle Louis” him, some might say.
Tag Line: “We’re Better Off With Harper”
Things That Work: Harper sounds more genuine than the “average Canadians” who were raving about him in the first wave of ads.
Things That Don’t Work: He likes veterans. He likes immigrants. He likes his son. So?
A Leader…of Fashion Trends: Stephen Harper tries valiantly to make sweater vests trendy again!
Cliche Score: Couches and fireplace in each ad gives 3 points total. Talking about why you love veterans and your family is worth 2 points each…talking about why you love immigrants is worth 1 point. The Canadian flag also gets half a point, and the soft sensitive music gets 1 point for each ad it’s in. Add it all up and you get an average cliche score of 4.2 for these ads.
Grade: B+ It’s like diving at the Olympics – you need to factor in the degree of difficulty. And making Stephen Harper look human has a very high degree of difficulty. Hence the good grade.
Reader Grade: