Understanding union advertising and public relations campaigns
Part 2 (of 4)
How do we decide what goes into the ads we run? It’s a question that your union has been asked a couple of times.
Content is always a tricky question. While advertising and harnessing the power of public relations can be powerful tools, they also come with substantial limitations when it comes to content.
Your average ad is only 30 seconds in duration. Longer-running ads sometimes get up to one minute at the very most. That’s not a lot of time to get your point across.
At the same time, you have to cut through the noise of everything else your audience is seeing so they pay attention to your ad. You have to be concise, creative, and competitive. It’s a lot to figure out when thinking up the content of your ad.
This Unfair Canada ad outlining the challenges faced by Air Canada flight attendants is a good example:
Click the image above to watch the Unfair Canada ad.
The ad uses humor and sarcasm to get its point across, playing on common frustrations that we’ve all experienced when flying lately.
You’ll also notice that the ad doesn’t contain any actual flight attendants. In fact, the ad doesn’t contain any actors at all. It is entirely animated.
Creating characters is a well-known advertising tactic, and using it is entirely understandable. Employees are naturally nervous about criticizing their employer on television.
The ad also does a good job of creating a sense of camaraderie between customers and flight attendants. CUPE, the union representing Air Canada flight attendants, released the ad prior to bargaining to generate public support around a key issue for its members: unpaid work.
President Thomas Hesse and Secretary Treasurer Richelle Stewart bargaining strong for Local 401 members.
Generating public support ahead of bargaining gives a union leverage at the bargaining table and potentially helps to avoid a strike.
And while there is no doubt that advertising costs money, even a province-wide advertising campaign pales in comparison to the cost of a province-wide strike.
Stay tuned for more updates on understanding union advertising and public relations campaigns!
Posted on: February 04,2025