Justin Trudeau takes back seat to 'star' candidates in new Liberal ad

Ad Hawk is an occasional series evaluating the effectiveness ofpolitical advertising.

A new TV ad from the Liberals demonstrates that the Conservatives' long-running "He's just not ready" ads continue to reverberate in the 2015 election campaign.

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The Liberals' new ad begins with party leader Justin Trudeau talking about Canadians' appetitefor political change and "real leadership," but it is really about broadening the valueproposition of voting Liberal beyondTrudeau to his stable of candidates "TeamTrudeau" in thead script.

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What's the message?

The main message Liberals are trying to send to Canadians seems to be, "Don't worry, wehave a strong team behind theleader."

The ad begins with a simple sentence on the screen: "What does real leadership mean?"

It continues with Trudeau reading the start ofthe first line of the script, but then some ofthe Liberals' so-called starcandidatesappear,lookinto the camera andread thesubsequent lines.

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Thebackgrounds are cheering crowds at events, smiling faces and people holdingup signs while Trudeau promises "real change for our middle class."The visual message is a sense of momentum.

It's worth noting that one Liberal candidate in the ad says NDP Leader Thomas Mulcairoffers "no real new ideas for our economy."The ad doesn't bother to mention Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, other than to say that Canadians "are fed up withclosed, secretivegovernment."

Why now?

Opinion polls have tightened as the election race heads into the home stretch. To theextent the Liberal Party's owninternal research shows that some damage still lingers fromthe Conservatives' "He'sjust not ready" ads, this effort is designed to highlight the strengthof Trudeau's benchof candidates, which includes a former finance minister, RalphGoodale.

Kernel of truth here?

The Liberals have some accomplished candidates in the Oct. 19election who represent change and are featured in the ad:

• Former Toronto city councillor AdamVaughan
• Bay St. lawyer Raj Grewal.
• Markham lawyer Bang-Gu Jiang.
• Retired Canadian Army Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie.
• Bay St. pension expert Bill Morneau.
• FormerToronto police chief Bill Blair.
• Former B.C. Assembly of First Nations regional chief JodyWilson-Raybould.
• Accountant Lawrence Woo.
• Former police detective and Canadian Forces veteran Harjit Sajjan.
• Journalist Chrystia Freeland.

As hard as the ad tries to emphasize change, some of the content undermines that effort.

Along with Goodale, other long-time caucus members featured in the ad includeJudySgro, ScottBrisonand MarcGarneau. Plus, the ad features several glimpses ofPaul Martin. The former prime minister can be seen in the background at acampaign eventhe spoke at withTrudeau, althoughwhen he raisesTrudeau'sarm, he isout of the frame.

What score or rating would you give?

This ad scores a 3/5, but mostly because of the sense of momentum around Trudeau created by the visuals. On the downside, the star candidates fly by far too quickly andtheir credentialsare far too inside baseball for the average Canadian voter torecognize who these people are and what they bring to the table.

Overall, it's a good adthat addresses a weak Liberal flank.

Bill Walker is president of MidtownPR. He was previously the Ottawa and Washington bureau chief of the Toronto Star.His assessment ispart of an occasional series evaluating the effectiveness ofpolitical advertising.