North American consolidation of advertising and marketing has, in reality, become the Americanization of advertising in Canada.

The monitoring of six Canadian television stations over a period of three evenings between six and 10 p.m. found approximately 65% to 75% of the commercials to be u.s.-made.

Some of the work was more obviously from the u.s. than others, with one commercial on cbc dominated by a map of the u.s. and another on a Barrie, Ont. station featuring u.s. currency.

The widespread use of u.s. creative is also said to be contributing to a dramatic decline in the number of people employed by Canada’s advertising industry.

One executive estimates that in Toronto over the past few years industry employment has dropped in half, from 30,000 to 15,000 people.

These figures were reached by comparing the number of people employed by each Toronto agency two years ago to the number of employees at the same agencies today.

The calculation d’esn’t take into account suppliers to the industry such as printers, filmmakers, recording engineers and those in commercial production.

Concern about this threat to the industry prompted the Institute of Canadian Advertising to conduct an import/export survey of members last July.

The results have not been publicly released.

Rupert Brendon, president of the ica, says the findings showed that more business was flowing out of the country than into it. He adds that the Association has been working on an initiative to counteract this trend.

Brendon expects to make an announcement about the new program soon.

But it is not just agencies and production houses that have been affected by this trend.

Clients are not immune to the backlash of consolidation: those who use u.s. creative without regard to Canadian sensitivities, values and beliefs risk losing market share.

Most u.s. clients and agencies understand there are differences between the two countries but nine times out of 10 the decision to use u.s. creative is a financial one.

This trend can also swing back the other way as, for example, it did for Tambrands Canada prior to its purchase by Procter & Gamble in April.

The company consolidated marketing in White Plains, n.y. in June 1994 and, two years later, re-established a marketing department on this side of the border because of declining brand share.

Richard Truman, ceo of Campaign House Worldwide in Toronto, says advertising is part of our cultural life and should reflect our society and its values.

‘u.s. advertising has a very aggressive style and you can often spot a u.s. ad because it’s right in your face,’ he says.

‘We don’t want to pushed, slapped and shoved into believing something. We want to be involved in the message.’

Truman says concern about cultural erosion due to foreign advertising is shared by many agencies he has visited around the world.

In France, for example, he says the use of u.s. creative has become such a contentious issue over the past three or four years that it has sparked protests at television stations.

Truman says while in France he watched television spots that had simply ­ and very obviously ­ been dubbed in French.

When faced with a similar situation about 10 years ago, Truman says Australia erected regulatory walls to protect its culture and industry.

Now all advertising has to be re-created for the Australian market in Australia so jingles have Australian accents and visuals feature Australian actors and locales.

Despite evidence to the contrary, there is still a strong belief among many u.s. clients that the differences between Canadians and Americans are too small to matter. However, that’s not the case in Canada.

Michael Adams, president of Environics Research Group and author of Sex in the Snow: Canadian Social Values at the End of the Millennium, says that Sigmund Freud called this the narcissism of small differences ­ people’s protectiveness of their uniqueness grows as differences shrink. In other words, the smaller the differences become, the more importance people place on them.

Adams says this is the case between Canadians and Americans and it isn’t likely to change.

‘The differences are still significant and will certainly be significant from the point of view of marketing and communications.

‘Therefore, any North Americanization [of advertising had] better have great understanding of the subtle differences between Canadians and Americans.’

Adams says he sees a lack of imagination generally in the use of Canadian identity, character and values in advertising but, every once in a while, he says there are breakthroughs.

One spot that’s right on the money, says Adams, is the Chevrolet Road Crew television commercial in the Tried, Tested and True campaign from MacLaren McCann, which features a young woman on a road crew, whose husband drops by with the lunch she’d forgotten at home.

While u.s. advertising often portrays a stereotypical view of society with a mom and dad, two kids, and the mandatory family dog, Canadian advertising is more realistic, portraying single parents, mixed-race couples and the role-reversed couple in Road Crew.

Adams says it’s this kind of insight that creates great advertising which helps set advertisers apart from their competition.