Ad hockery

It's interesting to see 1337hax0r's reviews of the latest New Democrat ads which disagree almost perfectly with my own take. I've discussed before why I think the Chalk Talk ads could be highly effective, particularly in attracting the attention of voters who are just now tuning in to the election. (See the latest one on health care here.)

But I find it especially interesting to see a highly positive review for what looks to me to be the most disappointing NDP ad of the election cycle, being the latest Quebec ad attacking the Bloc.

It's easy to see how the New Democrats' Quebec ad strategy was set up to try to shift public opinion of each party. And it's obvious that the Bloc was next in line to be dealt with based on their recent boosts in the polls - not to mention the need to convert Bloc votes to the NDP to push ridings into the New Democrats' camp.

But I'm not sure that the actual ad hits the mark. While it includes a few interesting concepts (notably the square-wheeled bike, a strong soundtrack and the puns off the Bloc's name), it avoids a direct critique of anything the Bloc has actually done or failed to do. And that seems to me to be a serious omission: how can an ad make the case that it's time to unblock specific issues without even attempting to present examples of how they're blocked at the moment?

And that problem is only amplified by the lack of any direct mention of NDP policies or a specific reason to vote for a New Democrat as opposed to any other party. In effect, the ad works somewhat on the level of attaching a negative association to the Bloc - but could just as easily serve as an ad for the Cons or the Libs aside from the presence of Layton.

Now, I'll hope to be wrong in the above analysis. But I'd think there's some reason for concern that the much-vaunted Quebec ad strategy will fall short of giving progressive Quebeckers the spur they need to shift their votes from the Bloc to the New Democrats.