Election advertisements from the Future Quebec Coalition (CAQ) and the context in which they were carried out raise “ethical” questions with elected officials and experts, particularly with regard to the remuneration granted to the citizen at the heart of this marketing operation.
A lady on the eve of her 80s living in a village in the Mauricie region these days occupies the main role in advertisements broadcast on television and online in which we see her expressing, among other things, her appreciation of the Prime Minister. Francois Legault and Health Minister Christian Dubé. These advertisements give the impression of taking the form of a micro-sidewalk (vox pop). This is also the expression used, among others, by the CAQ on its Youtube channel to describe this series of four clips produced in anticipation provincial elections of October 3.
In fact, this lady first took part in a micro-sidewalk in 2018 in the streets of Shawinigan. She was then arrested out of the blue by a team working for the CAQ to share her opinions on this political party and its leader. She later received a check for $100 when contacted to say her comments would be used for publicity purposes, it has been learned. The duty.
This lady, who asked to remain anonymous, was then contacted earlier this summer by a company specializing in the production of visual material mandated by the CAQ, which came to her home at the end of May to obtain again his opinion on the Legault government. This filmed interview lasted more than an hour, according to our information. In the following days, the lady, who prefers to conceal her identity, signed a release authorizing the use of her testimony for publicity purposes in exchange for a sum of 250 dollars.
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In this context, can we call this interview a “vox pop”? And above all, is the sum offered to this lady reasonable, given the scope of this campaign, which has been the subject of parodies by comedians in addition to generating numerous comments on social networks ? The debate has begun.
“Very often, these people are not paid at all”, launches the To have to lawyer Lyne Robichaud, who specializes in law, about citizens called upon to take part in vox pops for political parties. “Often people do it out of conviction” and not for the money, she adds.
The president of Upperkut, Serge Leathead, also notes that when his agency is called upon to produce “vox pop”, several organizations “do not want people to be paid very high rates” in order to avoid to color the “authenticity” of their remarks. “If we make a vox pop, the money should not be used to pay them, but to compensate them for the trouble suffered,” he believes.
Contacted by The duty, the Union des artistes du Québec (UDA) has indicated that it will look into this matter at the beginning of next week. However, it is specified that gray areas surround the use of citizens for filming of this type.
Be that as it may, from an “ethical point of view”, the performance of the lady in the foreground of the CAQ’s advertisements “deserves” to receive “a much higher fee” given the fact “that she is the single figure of several messages”, analyzes the professor of social at Laval University Christian Desîlets. According to him, the amount granted could have reached 10,000 dollars, “or even more”.
“It may be objected that his great media coverage was able to satisfy him much more than the modest fee received, but still it would have been necessary to offer him a fee equal to what is normally paid” for such participation in an campaign , adds the expert.
“It’s putting a lot of pressure on a lady who was perhaps not fully aware that her image would be omnipresent, to the point that there are parodies,” PQ MP Pascal Bérubé reacted on Friday. , who also believes that this lady should have received higher financial compensation.
Mr. Desîlets also questions the choice of the term “vox pop” to identify these CAQ advertisements, since the choice of this participant “owes nothing to chance”, as is normally the case in a micro- curb.
“The way the CAQ proceeds is shocking. They know that there are rules to follow to comply with industry standards and agreements with the Union des artistes. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the CAQ has circumvented the rules for partisan purposes, “reacted by email Friday evening the director of communications of the Quebec Liberal PartyMaxime Roy.
Joined by The dutythe CAQ did not want to comment on this case, arguing that the information concerning its productions “is not of public order”.
With Francois Carabin