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TO Live With Culture, a body set up to attract tourists to Toronto, created controversy in early 2007 with this advertising campaign. The ads, which appeared in a number of US “alternative” newspapers, were designed to attract younger visitors to Toronto by banishing the common perception of the city as, in the words of Live With Culture’s manager, “a safe, clean, polite" place, "but not all that sexy, not all that edgy.” The adverts sought to draw attention to the cultural attractions of the Canadian city by comparing it in a "humorous" way with Paris, New York, Italy and Hollywood.
However, in Toronto itself, the campaign was criticized for its use of sexual imagery and stereotypical characters, with sections of the media and politicians complaining that it offered a negative portrayal of the city which would merely reinforce existing prejudices. Toronto councillor Michael Thompson described the adverts as “purely garbage” and “trash” and called for them to be withdrawn. The city’s Mayor, David Miller, criticized the ads for failing to convey “a positive meaning” about Toronto. Live With Culture responded by saying that, “by provoking a debate about how Toronto wants to represent itself to the rest of the world...we’ve achieved our goals.”
The campaign – which comprised four print ads – was created by the locally-based agency DraftFCB.
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