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Maclean's

Over the past four years, dozens of focus groups have been conducted with both Maclean's readers and non-readers. After 9/11, there was a pronounced shift in reader attitudes. Canadian readers began to see the U.S. media as biased. Canadian media were seen as more objective and less driven by ideology.

As a result, Rethink decided to position Maclean's as the leading proponent of this more objective point of view.

The agency created two DPS ads that took on the entire U.S. media machine. The ads began running three months after the invasion of Iraq. They also highlighted Maclean's new design, which put more emphasis on high-impact photography.

Even though Rethink was parodying the typical magazine subscription offer tip-in coupon, several hundred subscriptions derived directly from the ads. The magazine also received dozens of e-mails from Canadian readers (universally supportive) as well as several extremely nasty notes from Americans. In tracking research conducted after the ads began running, Maclean's also scored higher in areas such as "fair and objective" and "reflects Canadian values."

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American Bias

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