Ad Agencies hit the JackPot, Again!

I know this isn't a pressing issue, especially with everything going on in the world, but when stories like this (I'm sure there are many that are worse) bubble to to the surface, you really have to wonder where a government's priorities are.

If you recall, during the summer the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced they were going to spend upwards of $6 million to change their logo from OLGC to OLG. Putting aside the absolutely asinine cost for this simple thing (more like a jackpot for the Ad Agency Bensimon Byrne), OLGC's CEO said the money was being spent to create "a brand that will represent trust, integrity and effective gaming operations".

As an aside, the ad agency was collecting $38,000 per month in agency fees before the announcement. Now they are collecting $78,500 per month in fees which, by the way, has nothing to do with the logo change. Bensimon Byrne is the same agency that handled the liberals election campaign, and the same agency that got paid $228,000 to redesign the Ontario Logo in the same image as the Liberal Party logo.

Since the CBC's Fifth Estate uncovered some shady dealings by lottery retailers, the OLGC, oops, the OLG, has been in full damage control, pulling out all the stops so gamblers, oops, "players" can feel warm and fuzzy when they buy or check lottery tickets. The expected cost for the new security measures? A cool $10-12 million. I wonder how much of this cost is for advertising their new security measures?

It seems that "creating a brand that will represent trust, integrity and effective gaming operations" has nothing to do with logos after all. Hmm, I could have given them that advice in a one page report for about, oh, say $35,000. Think of the money that Ontarians could have saved.

Imagine the hospital beds, homeless shelters, and support services that could have been put into place with that money. Our own mayoral candidates lament the lack of resources to help the less fortunate here in Newmarket and Aurora, and this money could have been used to address these issues.

So the next time your pocket is picked by the taxman, remember the stories like this.