Is there any disclaimer in the fine print of the report that says "The stories are representative, etc."? It would be very disturbing if they made up the whole thing and tried to pass it off as real.

The annual report in question can be found here:

http://pgairport.com/Documents/PGAA_AnnualReport_2008.pdf

The press releases that imply, repeatedly, that the stories are true are here:

http://www.pgairport.ca/Airport_Info/press_releases/july_15_2009.php

http://www.pgairport.ca/Airport_Info/press_releases/20090806-1.php

Also of interest are the qualifications of Mike Davis (hired at $94,000) vs. the original job posting (for high $70,000). As Mark Neilson in the Citizen notes today, the job was NOT reposted at a higher salary when they "couldn't find" a "suitable" candidate:

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20091023999911777/local/news/city-boosted-pay-for-new-communications-manager.html

The original job posting:

http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/jobs/09-32/desc.pdf

The press release announcing the hiring of Mike Davis with a mention of his qualifications:

http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/media2009/2009_09_30.pdf

In my opinion, the above two links don't match a bit.

As for the Annual Report, Page 34 has a pic of Francois Rosa who supposedly lives in Montreal. He does not. In fact he lives in PG and is the husband of one of the Principals of the firm that did the design work. Now why on earth would they fabricate that?

Other stock photos and fake names / profiles include:

Page 4 - Alesha Springer
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-7135137-looking-through-the-window-of-plane.php

Page 25 - Angela Hartman
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-3375319-ontime-departure.php

Page 30 - Elaine and Henry
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-4462467-senior-couple-in-international-airport.php

The way these are presented and used are basically testimonials. This is what the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards has to say about testimonials:

"7. Testimonials
Testimonials, endorsements or representations of opinion or preference, must reflect the genuine, reasonably current opinion of the individual(s), group or organization making such representations, and must be based upon adequate information about or experience with the product or service being advertised, and must not otherwise be deceptive."

http://www.adstandards.com/en/Standards/canCodeOfAdStandards.aspx#testimonials

Is there anything more pathetic in marketing (and life) than to invent people to say nice things about you?

Under Mike Davis' leadership, it appears the Airport Authority did exactly that: inventing people and fabricating experiences of service satisfaction to sell their product.

"Council says while the stories are true, the images used to portray those stories are not a concern."

The stories are not true - Rosa fabrication and I expect the others are fully made up.

What is REALLY deceptive, is the mixing of fabricated stories with the TRUE stories in the document. (or are they?)

This story is a complete and utter disgrace. Various media sources have come out in the past few weeks and asked some tough questions regarding the City of PG's new management position. Fair enough. Valid questions indeed and kudos to the media for exploring the story.

Now we have taken a turn for the worse on this story due to some bitter indivduals within our community that have personal agendas. I am dissapointed to see that personal agendas can easily affect the news of the day. I expected much more from our local media reps as I previously thought they did an admiral job in a tough industry.

The story has been reported already (repeatedly). Now it has turned into a personal attack on an indivual that has contributed in many positive ways to our community. Negative people with an axe to grind looking for a negative point of view does not help improve our community.

There may very well be a story to report on this issue (thats the media's job, i know!), but the people who put this story together went about it in the wrong way...and i guarantee they know it.

$95,000 is way way to much if the city is on the up and up about things. Un freggin real thy would pay twice what a mill worker makes to basically have a guy sit around and make up stories all day. My home tax can't afford that rich a program...and we shouldn't be borrowing money to pay for these kinds of things either.

"Now we have taken a turn for the worse on this story due to some bitter indivduals within our community that have personal agendas."

Personal agendas? So easy to to say, isn't it?

Spill it. Exactly what do you mean by personal agendas? Whose personal agenda and what is the agenda?

What do you mean the story has been reported already repeatedly? The part about the salary level has been repeated elsewhere. Do you mean to tell me that once one organization has reported it, that another cannot also report it? This is the first time I see it on Opinion 250.

Then there is the matter of supposedly faking pictures and/or stories. It says it is exlusive to this site. I have not read it elsewhere. Is it true? It appears to be.

If it is true, then the airport will have a problem it has to deal with before it explodes further in its face. And the City will have a problem it has to deal with as well. I do not envy those people in charge of the decisions they will have to make shortly.

It will be interesting to follow along as this unfolds further to see how each will handle this.

Of course, given this information, the general public will have to determine who wrote the spin that may be used by the two organizations.

It looks to me like this is primarily a matter of ethics, a matter of people in decision making positions applying adequate diligence in order to make those decisions.

So Jigga, what is your relationship to Mr. Davis, the City, the airport? What is YOUR personal agenda?

Mr. Davis is quoted as saying:

"Thousands of stories happen within our walls everyday at YXS."

So if each passenger and each employee and each business person associated with the airport has one story happening to them, will that make it THOUSANDS of story a day? This is Prince George airport, not Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson airport.

"We’re continually told of touching memories, teary good-byes, exciting hellos and much more."

And this is a revelation? This is a passenger terminal. This is nothing unusual. Where are the "much more" stories? The blood shipment would be one.

Who is the "we" that these stories continually get told to? At 3 minutes a story, that is 20 an hour and 160 in an 8 hour working day. Does one person get told these stories?

"We’ve managed to capture only a fraction of what we’ve been told and we’ve highlighted them throughout our websites and other marketing material".

There are some wonderful photos in the annual report and on the site. They are obviously staged. Then there are stock photos added to the mix, I am not sure why when a photographer took many local photos. Then there are stories added. So did the same happen with the stories as with the photos. Some real "stories" embellished the same as the photos to put that spin on them mixed in with some made up stories because the thousands of stories that are out there each day did not provide enough variety or interest?

I guess the defense is, if it is needed, is that this is advertising a product, CYXS. That is what advertising does, it "airbrushes" the images and it "polishes" the stories to present the product in the best possible light. That is why the industry has a self imposed ethical standard, to reduce the amount of spin in the product that is being produced.

Truth in advertising. Will we have to become a bit more discerning about what the City tells us now?

Sorry, Jigga, this is fair game. Public officials, paid with public dollars, deserve, and get, scrutiny. And just because there's an agenda behind something, doesn't make it untrue! On the face of it, this is a good bit of reporting, 250.

Makes one wonder what other fanciful stories come out of cityhall? Like pothole jumping & dodging is good for your car or everyone in town wants a $50 million artsyfartsy center!

When the next municipal election rolls around in 2 years, my guess is there is going to be a lot more unemployed people in this city than there are now. I truly hope some of them consider a job in municipal politics. In the next municipal election campaign I think our Mayor and City Council are going to have a very difficult time defending the decisions they are making now in this city with regards to using common sense when they are spending taxpayers' money.

The following link will take you to a chart of new home construction in the United States over the last 10 years.

http://www.iaconoresearch.com/BlogImages/09-01-22_housing_starts.png

The following link will take you to a chart of lumber prices over the last 10 years

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/LU/M

I wonder how much time the city spent interviewing for this position. I believe the real question is why the job wasnt posted at the higher rate. It definatly would have brought in a new group of candidates.

My question is this, what connections did Mr Davis have with people at city hall before he got the job? How much of it was who do you know rather than what do you know.

As for his promo for the PGX, it was very well done, except for the fact that it was most likely all lies.

My question is, did they hire a communications manager, or a fixer, somebody to paste a story over the truth.

I dont want to defend the use of fake stories, as in my view that is not kosher. As for the pictures, well, was anyone thinking the folks on that picture were the real deal? Do they not look like models selected to represent free spirited young people, probably in college, and definately happy and in love? COME ON! This is an advertisemnet for the airport. Advertisements use models or, if they are cheap, stock photos from a web site. I guess they do that because plain , ugly folks like you and me dont sell well.
As for his salary, well i can think of quite a few folk who make salaries in that range. WHether he is worth the money or not is one thing, the actual salary appropriate for the position is another.

So he won first place for Excellence in Communication and Marketing and he has been hired as a Communications Manager? Sounds like he is good at his job to me.

Tempest in a teapot?

This Citizen is already asking questions about this exact same story. At least they gave us the chance to comment and respond ... thanks Opinion 250.

This is the response we sent Mark Nielson at The Citizen.

-----

Mark,
The “What’s Your Story?” Campaign was launched back in the Spring of ‘09, this seems a little odd that you are just now asking questions about it, however here is our response to your questions and to explain the development of the campaign a little.

Splash Media Group Inc. was approached about a year ago to help create and execute a new direction for the Prince George Airport Authority. Mike Davis’ idea of reconnecting with the Prince George community, we felt, was a great direction especially as the past few years was focussed on the runway expansion. Mike Davis’ idea was to showcase common stories, that he sees daily and that most people have seen often, throughout the terminal building. Together we created a small list of scenarios and it was then left in Splash Media Group Inc.’s hands to execute this new direction.

Most of the stories are typical, common scenarios that are often seen, either in the airport building, or associated with the airport. In the advertising world, when this is done there are two approaches to take; a true customer testimonial (actual people, actual scenarios), or a re-creation. As we are not asking any of these people to advocate, or promote the PGAA in anyway, we decided on the re-creation route. This route would save the PGAA time and dollars in it’s development, as well as allow us to re-create and photograph these stories at a time as to not disrupt service within the airport building.

In our industry, it is very common for a direction like this to be done through a re-creation, for a number of reasons. Either the person(s) are not comfortable with us using their name, their face, or being in front of a camera ... the scenario may be too emotional for them to go through again ... or, they may not have the time to be involved. There are numerous reasons.

Testimonial: recommendation, something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person
or thing as worthy or desirable

Another reason why we chose the “re-creation” route is because we wanted to showcase these typical scenarios that the public could make a connection to: a teary good-bye, a joyful welcome home, a long distance relationship, etc. With a plan to then ask the public to submit their personal stories so we could showcase further, the connection that the PGAA has with our community. People can submit their stories online at: www.pgairport.ca.

For the most part, the people in the campaign are true Prince George people. We did use some Royalty-Free (or "Stock") images for the scenarios that were not within our airport terminal. This was a much more affordable way to re-create the story, rather than buy a commercial airline ticket, and shoot a mother and daughter on their way to Disneyland, or fly to Vancouver to re-create a long distance relationship. Royalty-Free images are very common in our industry as they save hundreds, even thousands, on photography costs. In our economic times, saving money wherever possible is an important element to all of our businesses.

We have been contacted by a number of people associated with this campaign and all have informed us on the questions you are asking. To be honest, I thought at first we were being “punked” in some way as the questions and the angle of the story is not only old, it is a little ridiculous. It’s unfortunate that you are trying to create some ugliness on a very positive achievement not only for the PGAA and SMG, but for our Prince George community. In the end, we are not misleading the public, we are engaging them. Actors and Actresses are around because they are necessary to re-create stories in film and help highlight messages in advertising. Capturing a “true” moment is a chance of incredible luck. Re-creating that same moment and capturing the energy and emotion is a difficult task. Personally, I feel that everyone involved, including all our actors and actresses, did an outstanding job!

Mike Doran
Splash Media Group Inc.

This is truly appalling and very detrimental to our community. YVR is a great facility - the idea that stories were fabricated, fiction was used to promote it, is downright embarassing. Totally unprofessional. Would be good to know how much this piece of fiction cost to produce?

How lucky we are to have this be the most controversial problem of the week in PG. How bored are we to actually care?

We have hired a person to work for the city in a communications capacity who now has absolutely no credibility, will it be an "actor" performing his job, or a real person?
How can you as a taxpayer now believe anything that comes out of city hall? It is a matter of public trust. Marketing the airport is one thing, reporting on events in the city in a truthful manner is another.
The issue is; why did the Airport website choose to use what they portrayed as factual interviews and people , when it appears that in some cases they were not. A simple disclaimer , is all that would have been needed.
The issue does more damage to the good work that has been done by people like Jim Blake , Todd Doherty and others over the past 8 years. Their efforts should not be lost.
Having examined the initial job posting, one has to wonder why Mr. Davis was selected. The job posting calls for someone with a degree in communications, and according to the City, Mr. Davis has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology.

While I read this story with interest, there seems to be another angle here that isn’t being reported.

Whenever I feel like I am being sold something I always ask myself if the seller has an agenda, which raises the question if the source of this “exclusive” story has a personal stake in its outcome or an axe to grind.

It would be a shame, and a stain on this website, if the source for this story used this reputable news service to advance a personal agenda.

There appear to be comments on this story that contain very intimate knowledge of the advertising industry and its codes of conduct. I think it would be very interesting to learn all of the companies that bid on the airport’s communication plan.

I have a feeling that this information would provide a very creative twist to this story.

An advertisement in one of the Seattle area Magazines that was promoting Prince George and Horizen Air showed a Mother Grizzley Bear and two cubs, walking toward a snow capped mountain. A very interesting picture. The problem is there are no snow capped Mountains in Prince George, and no Grizzely Bears. So the Picture did not honestly reflect the area, and in fact was misleading. Why do we avoid the truth about this area????

Mike states that they were going in a new direction especially since the last few years had been focused on the Airport Expansion. What does this mean. Is he implying that they want to divert attention from the Airport expansion because it is not turning out to be what it was proposed to be. I suspect so.

The new Terminal Airport Expansion is empty 10 Months of the year, and never used. They could should a movie in that area, and they wouldnt disrupt anyone.

The whole concept of the Prince George Airport becoming an Airport Authority has been flawed. Mainly because the City and Area is to small to properly support this type of concept. Thats why the money for promoting the Airport came from the Federal Govenment. The PGAA doesnt have any money to spend on these programs. Nor do they have the money to spend on a Communications Manager, and I suspect that is why he is leaving. Lets see if they replace him, and if they do lets see if they pay the replacement $95,000.00 per year.

It would be nice to have an in depth analysis of the Airport Authority as it stands to-day.

1. Is the Airport a viable operation.

2. The Airport Improvement Fees are presently $15.00 per person per outbound flight. Among the highest in Canada. Is it the intention to further increase these charges.

3. The Airport Runway Expansion has been completed. We have various statements making vague references to planes landing for tech stops, fueling etc; and some vague reference to Cargo Planes, and Distribution facilities, however these range from 10 months to 7 years depending on who and when the statements are made.

4. With the money borrowed to build the Terminal Expansion, the Parking lot Expansion, and the Runway expansion, and no new revenue being generated by any of these facilities, how is the Airport going to repay this debt. Revenue from Aiport Improvement Fees will probably decline for the next 3 to 5 years.

5. The lease payments from the Airport Authority to the Federal Government are to commence in 2011, where will the money come from to make these payments.

6. Is it the intention of the Federal Government to bail out the Airport Authority to the tune of approx $20 Million dollars and start over.

7. Why was Steig Hoeg let go. If the expansions at the Aiport are all such great endeavours, you would think that he would be kept on, and given a promotion for a job well done.

This is quite interesting, I can't say I've ever had a good experience at the landing strip in Prince George, the rent a cops they have doing security are the worst I've ever seen.....

I believe the Mayor came from the advertising business, what's the tie there I wonder?

It's good to have a marketing person on your team to spread the "Newspeak" an example - "The price on the new police station has been reduced to only $50 million dollars" "The city filled more potholes this year than last year"

The taxpayers of Prince George must be very happy they are going to have an ad-man spreading the "Truth" coming from city hall, and they have a good one, he has won an "award" for it after all!

Good luck with that and the holes in your streets

Putting aside the whole idea of 're-created' photos and stories for the sake of an Annual Report, what was the value gained by the airport to produce such a package?

Palopu asks some good questions above, it's doubtful we'll ever get straight answers from the airport authority on them.

250 did not contact Splash Media, nor do we feel we will need to on this matter in the future.
In the airport case, the company that undertook to build the site did so under the guidance of the Airport's Communications Manager. If the end product was not as it was being portrayed, then it was the responsibility of someone at the Airport to have the disclaimer added. That job does not, nor should it, fall at the feet of Splash media.
Splash media did their job, very well, I might add, if it was not totally true, then someone at the airport should have spotted the errors . They either didn’t spot the errors, or chose not to point them out.

Mike Doran

A nice defensive piece you have provided to support your position.

Anything YOU have learned from this?

From my point of view if one speaks about generic airports and air travel, that is one thing. As one gets closer to the specifics of a particular airport the onus on a promoter to get more specific stories becomes more important to bring generalities to the realities of the local situation.

In fact, this may actually work against you. How many people do you think actually believe that the posed local pictures are the actual people and, more importantly, the actual situations of them departing on a plane or whatever the situation it is.

It makes for a wonderful looking publication for the photographers and graphic artists. But does it make for a credible piece of information to be digested by the public?

I ask myself the key question a promoter must ask themselves. Who is my audience?

When I look at the publication the answer to that is those who read annual reports and those who give out awards for good graphics.

There is nothing there that connects anything back to the average people who use the airport.

Give me some factual information that will let me know that I am totally wrong with that observation.

gus...

i have no idea of who or what the agenda is. sure, i am making some big assumptions (which may be wrong), but I (like some other posters here) feel that there is more to this story. it does not just appear to be media outlets "reporting the news" as such. but thats my outsider opinion, which is why they call this place opinion 250!

by repeatedly, all i meant was that articles around the communications manager position have been coming up quite frequently and they all seem to be stretching to find something. i can't recall other high profile hirings with organizations around PG receiving such attention in the past. i just wonder why...but maybe its purely due to the salary and current economic times we are facing and i am reading into things too much.

i personally don't have an agenda on this one. i, like hundreds of others in PG have had business dealings with Mr Davis in the past. seems like good guy. i just don't agree with trying to set someone up for failure before they have been given a chance to fail or succeed on their own.

shockedjockey...

apart from the last part about "good reporting by 250" i fully agree with your post. scrutiny should come with the territory in those types of positions.

enjoy the weekend, i'm off to get some of the sun...

"Splash media did their job, very well, I might add"

Agreed. They do very fine work, on a regular basis.

ok, one has to admit at this point that this story has attracted a disproportionate number of comments for what is a pretty minor thing (or should be if people are really as samart as we make them out to be). It has also attrated some pretty dramtic statements and more interestingly, has wandered predictably into the whole anti airport arguments so common on this site.
Who really cares if they used models instead of PG ers? Who really cares if they re-created scenarios? Nobody but those looking for trouble. Ask anyone outside of PG whether this is a mountain or a molehill.

Both the brochure itself and the press release give the clear impression that the stories are real stories about real people who are actually depicted in the photographs. If, as appears to be the case, they are not, something is wrong. The fact that for some purposes it is acceptable in the advertising business to use stock photos and make up stories is irrelevant.

I also wonder about the value of such an elaborate report. Even printing such a thing is expensive, not to mention designing it. Do such stories, even if not fake, actually help to increase passenger revenue? I doubt it. Surely travel to and from this region is determined by people's personal and business agendas and by price, not whether they have a positive view of the airport. Advertising is probably more important in bringing in cargo and refueling business, but I doubt that such businesses care much whether passengers enjoy the airport.

What purpose is served by such an elaborate report?

Bohemian has presented the finest piece of researched commentary ever. Thanks for that.

After spending the past 5 years tracking the "sale" of BC Rail and allegations associated corruption, I'd have to say that there are far too many worrying questions sticking out all over the initial hiring of a key person in City of Prince George management.

At a time of high unemployment, no City in B.C. needs to be holding out $24,000. prizes in order to attract excellent employees with unquestioned integrity. So something's wrong with this picture already, where a salary of more than $95 thousand dollars a year is offered, when only $70,000. was originally advertised.

For the good of the City and region, I hope that they reconsider who they bring in for the position of Communications, Community Engagement Manager for the City of Prince George. There should be no doubts whatever, in employing someone for this role.

Especially if, as Peter Ewart warns, there are rumours of large new BC Rail style economic regional decisions on the horizon which will be bitterly contested.

There's no such thing as a little corruption. It's a disease which spreads like wildfire. BC has seen enough already of the In-House cover-up and double-cross. So if there are worrying aspects of the Mike Davis story, now's the time to deal with it. For everybody's sake, deal with it now. Not when it's too late.

Cripes, Bohemian might be the person.

All of this could have been avoided if they just used a little disclaimer. But then maybe people noticing such a disclaimer would have caused a similar blow up.

bohemian how do you go from:

“As for the Annual Report, Page 34 has a pic of Francois Rosa who supposedly lives in Montreal. He does not. In fact he lives in PG and is the husband of one of the Principals of the firm that did the design work. Now why on earth would they fabricate that?”

and

“Is there anything more pathetic in marketing (and life) than to invent people to say nice things about you?”

to this

“Agreed. They do very fine work, on a regular basis.”

Sounds like back tracking to me.

They do great work, regularly. Which makes the error of judgement in this case the more remarkable and unfortunate.

One good example of how to do it right would be UNBC's "Passion for..." campaign up at the Sports Centre - real quotes, real people, real names (much harder to execute REAL customer engagement and story telling than the admitted creation of scenarios. And one's customer engagement skills/track record are directly relatable to the communications job. How much did an international award play in the selection of Mr. Davis?)

Also, remember it wasn't Splash that was framing the work as authentic, true stories through press releases.

I'd like to communicate how I moved up here almost twenty years ago. No disclaimer needed. I didn't use our airport. I used Mayflower moving and storage. they didn't have airplanes then and I believe they still don't have them. I even loaded up my old car in the moving van. Who the hell uses an airport to move to a new city? As an aside, all these stupid episodes, decisions and arcane ideas will be quite forgotten next time the election rolls around. Voters depend on name recognition. Look at past elections.

Thanks for that lead to the UNBC media effort bohemian.

Here is a link: http://www.unbc.ca/history/alumni_news/testimonials.html

This one is identified as a testimonial.

The thing with the airport is that they absolutely did not have to go to the fake manipulated stories. People generally love the new airport building. It is a wonderful atmosphere to come back to when one has been out of town.

The airport provides a service.

A building

Drop off/parking

Check in

Baggage handling

Car rentals

Food services

Lounge

Security

Holding lounge

Walk accross tarmack to plane

Climbing stairs/ramp

Protection from weather

Assistance to passengers with special needs (I noticed that to be conspicuously absence in the selected stories, for instance)

Courier service drop of and pick up

etc.

"Henry Becker and his wife Elaine travel frequently from Prince George to Vancouver so he can meet his cardiologist at St. Paul's Hospital. It is not only the convenience of YXS, but the friendly service from our employees that help make their trips more enjoyable.

We see thousands of stories within YXS daily, just like Henry and Elaine's."

Let us look at those words in detail.
------------------------------------
"Henry Becker and his wife Elaine travel frequently from Prince George to Vancouver so he can meet his cardiologist at St. Paul's Hospital."

That sets the scene and provides the reason they are at YXS. They have no other option if they choose to fly.
------------------------------------
"It is not only the convenience of YXS, but the friendly service from our employees that help make their trips more enjoyable."

Now we are into the testimonial part. Did these people, if they exist by that name, state somewhere that they consistently receive friendly service, or is this a statement that the airport administration has made for them?
-------------------------
"We see thousands of stories within YXS daily, just like Henry and Elaine's."

Does YXS administration actually mean that they are "just like Henry and Elaine's"? Let me suggest that I would accept that a story just like theirs would be people who have to go to Vancouver for medical services since they are not available here.

We all know that such a situation is not uncommon. BUT "thousands a day"? How about "dozens a week". Why on earth is such exaggeration required?
-----------------------------

If an auditor came into YXS to not look at the financial statements and check out the accounting practices and financial controls but look at the veracity of the claims made in this promotional campaign, what would that auditor say? Would they say that the information is representational of the quality of services provided by YXS as claimed in this example for instance. Would the people in this case, if engaged about the service from holding lounge to the plane talk about how wonderful it is to walk accross a tarmak and walk up stairs, and now, finally an exterior ramp?

We have a wonderfully presented graphic production, no doubt.

But the content?! Is this really people oriented? Does YXS really care about its clients? That is, in the end, what it is all about, isn't it?

This production does not give me that confidence.

It seems that this is hot off the press from the US FTC:

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

Under the revised Guides, ADVERTISEMENT THAT FEATURE A CONSUMER and convey his or her experience with a product or service AS TYPICAL when that is not the case WILL BE REQUIRED TO CLEARLY DISCLOSE THE RESULTS THAT CONSUMERS CAN GENERALLY EXPECT. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised GUIDES NO LONGER CONTAIN THIS SAFE HARBOR.

---------------------------------
I do not know what the Canadian situation is. However, I assume that the reason why these changes are in place (notice that a disclaimer was required since 1980 and notice the suggested wording of the disclaimer) is because the FTC considered complaints over the last almost 30 years and decided a change was required because the industry was not able to self-regulate in this regard.

Truth in advertising is what it is all about!!! Simple!!! And if those in the field do not undertand that, the we need to let them know what the consumer expects.

forgot the link http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

Sounds like a new propaganda minister for the city. A Bachelor of Science degree in psychology?

Voodoo economics.

Voodoo communications.

What really bothers me the most about the phoney testimonials is that I for one actually have a good story about the airport and how I was treated. Did they ever ask the public for stories? I never seen any ads or heard anyone speak about the airport authority needing people to tell a good tale about their experiences there. What a darn shame to because I am sure that there are many good stories. It seems the norm now to spin a tale rather than use the truth. Government does it all the time. The average tax payer only makes 50,000.00 a year. I make just under that so in my opinion they are paying way to much for an position that in a time of recession is not needed. I realise that all levels of government right down to our city elite have to have such traits but for the rest of us honest and hard working people it is shamefull. I am also sure that they would have had a better turn out for the job if the true wage had been posted. Sounds to me like a scam was played out and Prince George did not get the best man/woman for the job.