On ad sense

Kent has already provided his review of the Saskatchewan NDP's new TV ad. But I'll go into a bit more detail with my take on what seems like it could be improved, as well as part of the ad which is open to some potentially useful interpretation as the 2011 election draws nearer.

Here's the ad:

In general, I agree with Kent's take that the ad serves as a useful summary of the damage inflicted on Saskatchewan's provincial finances by the Wall government. But that doesn't mean there aren't some areas which I'd hope will be tightened up in future ads - if only as a matter of nitpicking rather than fundamental disagreement with the campaign.

The first issue I'll raise with the ad is the choice of colour cues attached to the "draining" image.

While the effect itself is reasonably eye-catching and generally effective, I'm not sure that it's sufficiently tied to anything that will be easily recalled around election time. Nothing in the ad tries to chip away at Brad Wall or the Sask Party as anything but a word on the screen, which seems like a wasted opportunity to more closely attach visual identifiers to the government's failings. And even the choice of colours doesn't help matters much: the green of the NDP surplus as portrayed in the ad is a far brighter shade than anything that figures to appear as part of the NDP's materials, while the red of the deficit doesn't have any obvious connection to the Sask Party (and nothing in the ad mentions "red ink" or some other explanation).

So the choice of colours and lack of other obvious identifiers will require the NDP to put in extra work to explain the connection.

In addition, the inclusion of the "draining" behind text about the NDP's surplus might create a confusing visual for those who don't pay close attention. It would seem to have been a simple enough matter to show a steady pool of water linked to the NDP's name and surplus, then show the draining happening only as Wall and the Sask Party are mentioned within that part of the screen - ensuring a connection between the NDP and steady government, then a separate link between the Sask Party and the draining effect. But instead, the actual ad leaves some room for viewers paying only partial attention to associate the draining effect with the NDP as well.

Again, that makes for only minor criticism of what's generally a useful ad. And on the bright side, the tag line at the end looks to leave a couple of especially important options open for future messaging.

The question "who knew they'd cost us so much so fast?" might appear on its face to be entirely rhetorical. And in making a pitch to voters who may have supported Wall in 2007, the NDP will surely be happy to leave it at that, effectively offering an out for those who can claim they didn't anticipate the Sask Party's fiscal mess.

But for more active NDP supporters, there's another answer to the question: we did, which is why we've been raising concerns about the Sask Party from the beginning.

As a result, the ad raises separate lines of conversation among less committed voters and the NDP base, with each serving to position the party nicely. So despite the apparent room for improvement, the NDP figures to be well served in putting the ad in front of the public to help frame the 2011 election campaign.

Edit: fixed formatting.