Bernard Gauthier

Yup, there’s a link. Both the good people who brew and bottle 7 Up and the Conservative party are hard at work promoting new and improved versions of their wares. Both, sadly, are being less than forthcoming about just what is new and what is improved. The net result: consumers and voters who will be less than impressed and less engaged than ever.

Let’s start with the 7 Up campaign that eagerly promotes the “natural” flavours which now make that lemon lime taste possible. The billboard ads and TV spots are filled with images of fresh lemons and limes. The message is clear: 7 Up is now flavoured with lemon juice and lime juice, of course. Ah but a careful read of the ingredients reveals nothing that specific or healthy. Indeed, the great thing about Canada’s archaic food labelling laws is that you can label your food or drink as containing “natural flavours” without ever having to tell consumers what exactly those flavours are.

So, if not from freshly squeezed lemon juice, where does the lemony taste come from? I’m guessing here, but this article on the Health Canada site leads me to believe it comes from one of two types of commercial citronella oils: “Ceylon citronella is obtained by steam distillation of the partially dried herb (Cymbopogon nardus; lenabatu variety). The Java variety is also made by steam distillation or by water distillation of the fresh or partially dried herb (Cymbopogon winterianus; mahapengira variety).” As for the lime taste, I can only guess it’s a similarly derived flavour and not freshly squeezed lime juice.  So my question is simply this: why not a picture of a sprig of cymbopogon nardus on the ads, instead of a lemon?

Which leads us nicely to the announcement by Prime Minister Harper and Minister of Defence MacKay of Canada’s new defence “strategy.” Both political leaders were involved in well publicized speeches and events last week in which they promoted a 20-year vision for the forces and assured all who were paying attention that these speeches constituted a new defence strategy for the country. Speeches, of course, are fine for announcing strategies to do things like going to the corner store to buy milk (”Think I’ll take the truck, honey”) but it appears that expectations are a little higher when it comes to spending $50 billion on military equipment over the next 20 years. An Ottawa Citizen editorial tells us that when reporters asked to see the strategy, the response from MacKay’s spokesperson was: “The speeches are the strategy.”

The Conservatives were stung by the criticism that followed and eventually acknowledged that a detailed, written plan does exist somewhere. As the Globe and Mail reported: “a senior adviser in Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s office told reporters there is a richly detailed plan that’s so far not been released for public consumption.”

So here is the modest point of this posting: when two speeches can be called a “strategy” and when steam distilled cymbopogon winterianus can be likened to fresh and “natural” lemon juice, then voters and consumers are not being well served by the political communicators and advertisers of the day. I’m reminded here of a simple quote that is attributed to advertising legend David Ogilvy: “The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.” Those who decide whether or not to keep the real ingredients of soft drink hidden or the real details of a defence strategy obfuscated should take note. Consumers and voters are indeed smart and will pay attention to the people and organizations that recognize and respect their intelligence.