New PC Ontario ads

These ads were released today by the John Tory-led PC Party of Ontario. They are pure endorsement-style advertising where three spots feature three Ontarians singing the praises of John Tory as “a leader”.

First, the good…

The Ontario PC Party is cleverly pairing the “leader” theme with the federal Conservative “Dion is not a leader” advertising. In effect, they are piggy-backing on the success of the ads and the mindset already created for voters by the Dion ads. So, Dion isn’t a leader? John Tory comes in and fills the other half of the statement: “I’m a leader”.

The bad…

The ads are awfully boring and don’t hold the attention of the viewer. There is no hook. The ads are quiet and pensive in their delivery, however, it can come across as dead air. If these ads are to provoke feelings of trust and hope in a leader figure, some music behind the testimonials with some more black and white slides of Tory would help. Give me some french horns!

Here are the ads:

Bahadur


Kathy


Simone

What do you think of the ads? Will they be effective? Do they reach out to the appropriate audience?