And they say negative ads don't work?

Just an observation from last night's football games, during which the Party spent loads of cash to run the new Dion/GST spots.

I met up with a friend at a local pub whom I haven't seen in some time, half watching the games, half catching up. Anyway, one of the Dion spots came on, and it was interesting to observe the reactions.

Sitting about 20 feet away were some young guys, watching the game. From the looks of them, you'd assume they were Liberal, or at least left leaning, maybe Green or Dippers. Anyway, when the spot came on, one of them made an offhand negative comment about the ad. But then, interestingly enough, for the next 8-10 minutes, proceeded to discuss politics in general... the Federal parties and their leaders, a couple of big policy items that are on the public's mind, and the recent provinical election. They were talking about the issues that matter for the rest of the commercial break, overtop of the game when it came back on, and into the next commercial break.

I don't know about you, but I'd call that effective... getting a bunch of guys who didn't seem to be normally politically motivated actually talking about the leaders and the issues.

Now... just imagine that scene being repeated in say, even a mere 30% of the establishments and homes that were watching the big game yesterday... THAT'S an effective politcal strategy. Who knows how many people, if not convinced by the spots, were at least open to the idea of what they had to say?

That's how you grow your share of the vote... nicely done guys.