As reported by Radio-Canada and Cyberpresse, the Web site bondebarras.tv owned by the Parti Québécois has been deactivated. This site was going to be a viral marketing mill. They tried to imitate the kind of videos we find on video broadcasting sites like YouTube, but they were very ackward in the process, as Michel Leblanc was judiciously telling us in his article. Indeed, the viral portion of a video implies that one can broadcast the contents on a large scale, that we can discuss the contents, that we can re-distribute it and so on. However, the bondebarras.tv Web site had none of those features.

But even if these considerations were fixed, the PQ sinned in thinking that a political party can be politically incorrect, like many Internet users are in general. The bondebarras.tv Web site has in fact been removed because one of its videos, the first actually, was making parallels between the Quebecer voters and a battered wife, thus by proxy saying that the Liberal party was a “wife beater”. It is obvious that social work groups don’t appreciate that others use their cause for partisan reasons. Policewomen didn’t like the Kia advert where a blonde was seen kissing a Kia driving. The examples are numerous, but I just can’t think of any other ones right now.

In order to avoid controversy, a party cannot afford to say such things.

Although, as a citizne, I could have said it without implicating the PQ, and the message would have been the same.

Where is the PQ’s error?

To not have given more time to its members and not having enough faith in them so they could create videos with similar messages.

We don’t need big budgets or highly paid actors anymore to have an efficient advertisement through YouTub. All that is needed is a cheap camera, some imagination, and a couple of friends.

Better luck next time!

brem