This Ain't Flint - A New Ad Slogan Promoting Ottawa

[sg9018]

This Ain't Flint - A New Ad Slogan Promoting Ottawa
I saw this on skyscraperpage forum,
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=167620
Here a article on the slogan promoting Ottawa,
Quote:
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/inde...ng_s.html#more

This Ain't Flint video making some residents say 'That ain't Flint either'
by David Harris | The Flint Journal
Friday April 10, 2009, 7:28 AM

FLINT, Michigan -- Some neighbors from north of the border aren't being too neighborly to Flint.

An Ottawa, Canada, radio station and advertising agency produced an online video called "This Ain't Flint" in an attempt to show that Ottawa is "somewhat insulated" from the worldwide financial crisis.

The video uses scenes from the 1989 movie "Roger and Me" by Davison native Michael Moore depicting abandoned homes as well as footage of rats, alcohol and abused women alongside brightly colored images of Ottawa city buildings and events.

A spokesman for temporary Mayor Michael Brown called it a "lame video" and said its creators owe Flint an apology.

"I would say to the makers of the video 'This Ain't Flint' that that ain't Flint either," spokesman Bob Campbell said. "It is trying to make a point satirically, and it fails miserably."

The campaign was made by Newcap Radio and Alphabet Creative.

Scott Broderick, a general manager for Newcap Radio in Ottawa, said the intent of the video is to show that things have progressed in both Flint and Ottawa in the last 20 years.

"What happened in 1989 and what's happening right now is not the same," he said. "We're using what we believe to be a historical reference point. It contrasts. The Flint of 1989 is not the Flint of 2009, and the Ottawa of 1989 is not the Ottawa of 2009."

Broderick said the film is not intended to offend anyone, and he would be open to clarifying the meaning of the film.

"People might not like our style, but they should look at the substance of what we are saying," he said.

The ad campaign started in Ottawa last week on signs placed throughout the community.

Michael Kelly, who has lived in Flint for most of his life, called the video "sleazy."

"It's ignorant propaganda," said Kelly. "I don't understand making yourself feel better by kicking a neighbor. It reflects very little knowledge of the city of Flint."

Even some suburban residents jumped to the city's defense after seeing the video.

"I thought it was crap," said Dominick Adams, 28, of Burton, who moved to the area six years ago. "I thought it was horrible. They make it seem like it's so bad."

An explanation of the video on its Web site, thisaintflint.ca, said it is not supposed to be offensive.

"We are not naive, and to the good people of Flint, Michigan -- we bear no malice and offer condolences in these hard times," the statement said. "But let's face it everybody -- we live in Ottawa, and it's pretty damn good. So let's go with that."

Campbell wasn't swayed.

"They can keep their phony sentiment, because if they really felt that way ... [[they) wouldn't have made something like that," he said.

Even some Ottawa officials and residents are questioning the legitimacy of the video.

Noel Buckley, president and chief executive officer of Ottawa Tourism, said in a statement that the video is "clearly an unfair comparison between Flint in 1989 and Ottawa today."

He has contacted officials with the Newcap radio stations to convey his concerns with the campaign.

"A vast majority of us up here in Ottawa are very much disgusted with the campaign," said Ottawa resident Jamie Calder
Here is a link to the video promoting Ottawa, by comparing to Flint [[1989).
http://thisaintflint.ca/
What you guys think of the video? To me the whole video is " ignorant propaganda".

[Bigb23]

Makes me sad that a couple of my "American" cars were built at the Ottawa assembly complex. And that I'm part Odawa native. Nice way to put the screw to us.

[jams]

Well, it's not Paris, Rome, or London either, but I've enjoyed my trips there.

[Mikeg]

....a couple of my "American" cars were built at the Ottawa assembly complex.

If they were GM vehicles, they were built at one of the three [[soon to be only two) assembly plants in Oshawa, Ontario.
There are no auto assembly plants in Ottawa, which is the Canadian capital and where the primary employer is the Federal Government. When your economy runs on taxpayer dollars, it's easy to brag, "we live in Ottawa, and it's pretty damn good."

[Bigb23]

If they were GM vehicles, they were built at one of the three [[soon to be only two) assembly plants in Oshawa, Ontario.

My bad, Mikeg, I don't mean to get in a pissing match with a man I respect. Hopefully, we have better times ahead.

[Bigb23]

I can't search as well as I want at 26.4 kbps., On dial up. Give me a little break.

[ccbatson]

As Canadians drop like flies from their wonderful socialized medicine program.

[Mikeg]

Sorry Bigb23 if I came across that way, it wasn't my intent. I intended to launch off your Ottawa/Oshawa confusion to point out the stupidity of that online video's comparison of their city [[which is basically a Federal District) to a manufacturing city like Flint. It's the equivalent of trying to make a comparison between the local economies of Washington DC and Flint - its like comparing apples versus oranges.

[Bigb23]

I'm also replying to the streetcar thread. All I'm trying to do is put alternate theories out there. Nobody believes everything they get off the Internet, right ? Put some information out there, and people can make up their own mind. Peace.

[Mikeg]

Nobody believes everything they get off the Internet

With respect to WIkipedia, it doesn't have to be that way. I've edited a few historical articles on Wikipedia that initially contained some Point of View and which were getting some back and forth editing. I reworded sections to remove the PoV and conjecture, added facts that could be found in multiple other published works and documents, plus provided footnoted references. Those articles have remained pretty stable ever since, but it took a lot more effort than just cutting and pasting text from another web site and adding a footnote back to it.

If you want to offer an alternate theory, that's fine as long as you label it as such. The other poster who brought the conspiracy accusation into that thread offered it as fact and didn't even attempt to provide any support for his contentions. I have no patience for that kind of stuff, particularly when it is directed against a company that over the past 100 years has contributed greatly to the local economy and the city of Detroit.

[ccbatson]

Wikipedia cannot be used as a stand alone reference.