The Toronto Blue Jays games don't usually produce many significant ads during free previews of MLB Extra Innings. NHL games give us cool food ads and some offbeat ads for other products.
This year is an election year, which means election ads.
In the 3-game series against Tampa Bay, we got 2 Conservative ads about how Justin Trudeau is "just not ready." This theme has come up often in telecasts mostly because the Conservatives have money to spend.
In the first ad, a woman is concerned that Liberals want to take away the monthly child care check and income splitting. The Liberals would use a larger income-tested benefit payment to replace the child care check. As for income splitting, the Liberals are against that, but the Conservatives just introduced that.
In fact, with the child care benefits, the Conservatives are giving money to people in 2015 but will get them on taxes that will come along after the fall election.
But this ad isn't about Trudeau's "readiness," more like being against Conservative policies.
The second ad was an older man worried that Trudeau wouldn't be as concerned about deficits and mentions specifically the 2008 financial crisis.
In 2008, Stephen Harper had a minority government and the other major parties -- Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois -- forced Harper to accept a stimulus package that ultimately benefited the country more than the austerity the Conservatives were pushing.
A Trudeau sound bite is cited but its context is unclear. The analysis cited from a Waterloo based publication refers to 2015, not 2008.
And as for deficits, the Harper Government has run deficits except for this election year. Given the falling oil prices, that move might not be the most sound financially speaking.
This speaks to "readiness" on some level but mostly that Trudeau and Harper have differing approaches to deficits but not by much.
These ads aren't as horrible as U.S. election ads (not saying much). It would be easier to compare if we saw more ads. The dynamic of attacking 2 different parties instead of 1 is fascinating from an "American" perspective.
We'll jump on YouTube closer to the election and break down ads from the major parties.
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We saw a positive political ad. We got to see Kathleen Wynne jogging down a road. Wynne supplies the voiceover, about how normally when you get to be a grandmother, you start to slow down. But Wynne isn't slowing down; she is fighting for Ontario residents.
The ad is fairly soft and definitely positive. The tone gets a message across in the voice of the politician and is sincerely entertaining. More U.S. political ads should be more like this ad from the Wynne government in Ontario.
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We mentioned the maple bacon poutine that McDonald's was offering as part of its Great Canadian Taste Adventure.
Wendy's is advertising its bacon poutine in Canada. The chain in the States is offering Baconator Fries, except that the cheese is a cheddar cheese sauce, which doubles as the "gravy."
The bacon poutine looks better than the McDonald's version and way tastier than the Baconator Fries.
We appreciate a classic poutine, but don't have an issue with logical add-ons. Bacon fits well in that category, and hopefully isn't a limited time option at Wendy's.
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As an Xfinity customer, I only get home feeds for most games, so the Blue Jays games in Oakland had the A's feeds.
A nice highlight of being in Toronto was the Rogers Sportsnet crew getting to interview a couple of the players from the Canadian women's baseball team for their participation in the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Sportsnet was promoting its soccer coverage of the Pan Am Games as well.
There is no free preview at the end of the season, so this was it for the season. The next NHL free preview is 2½ months away.
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