Unifor is celebrating the importance of its members in the journalism trade with its own brand of “Elbows Up” advertising.
A new campaign for the Unifor Media Council calls out the spread of misinformation in “Fact-Check,” a series of advertisements that features full-contact hockey players interjecting into casual conversations to set the record straight on stolen elections, pseudoscientific health tips and flat Earth conspiracy theories.
The trade union says the lighthearted video, digital and print ads, created in collaboration with Halifax-based creative agency Wunder, are meant to shed light on the effect that properly trained and resourced journalists can have on keeping extremist voices at bay.
The campaign also nods to the continuing debate over the role of foreign-owned tech platforms in Canada’s news ecosystem. For decades, local outlets relied on advertising revenue, from classifieds to retail ads. But as media shifted online, companies like Google and Meta have come to dominate the Canadian ad market.
“The Canadian news media remains under attack, and all of us are bearing the brunt of this upheaval. When journalists are silenced, truth is silenced, and when trust in media is eroded, misinformation fills the void,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said in a news release. “We’ve created a campaign that reaches out to every Canadian, reminding them of the value of high-quality, fact-checked news.”
“Fact-Check” launched this week with three videos running on TV and OLV alongside radio, print and digital advertisements. Veteran editorial cartoonist Michael de Adder was enlisted to create a campaign-themed drawing for a full-page ad in the National Post and a microsite has also been created on Unifor’s Media Action plan website.
Postmedia, the Toronto Star, News Media Canada, Global News, CityNews, Omni Television, CHCH and CHEK TV provided media placements for the campaign that is being supported by more than 20 organizations and publications.
As Canada’s largest private-sector union, Unifor represents approximately 320,000 workers in 29 industries across Canada. The Unifor Media Council represents more than 10,000 journalists and media workers in disciplines including broadcasting, print and online news.
