The Quebec government’s new advert for protecting the French is not to Yasmine Abdelfadel’s liking.
• Also read: Quebec launches “sketch” advert on French’s decline
Without disparaging the idea of making an advertisement to try to reach the youngest, she believes that the content and the message are not at all appropriate.
“I feel like hearing Jocelyne on Radio Enfer. We address young people by saying “Yo”. Honestly, it’s not worth government advertising. I find it useless. I feel like we got an old National Geographic VHS and added a voiceover. I don’t even understand how it could have cost half a million dollars. I’m ‘full’ negative, I find it ‘weird’ and ‘sketchy,'” she says, smiling.
Former PQ, Elsie Lefebvre, agrees and believes the government has missed its mark.
“It’s true that young people talk like that. Does the ad hit the target? At work, I’m surrounded by people between the ages of 20 and 35, and everyone was laughing out loud,” she says.
Unlike his two colleagues, Gaétan Barrette surprised the panel of experts by approving the government’s choice.
“I’m sure this will leave a mark on young people’s minds. They will laugh at it, but the aim is to make it clear to young people that what we say is true [des anglicismes] a lot and maybe we could be a little more careful (…) There is no single gesture that will solve the problem, it’s a multitude, “adds Mr. Barrette.
Watch the full debate in the video above.