Canada’s anti-tariff billboards in the U.S. go viral — but is anyone swayed?

An unusual billboard caught Tom Smith’s eye earlier this week as he was heading to work at Emory University in Atlanta.

Paid for by the Canadian government, the billboard told Americans in big bold letters that “tariffs are a tax on your grocery bill.”

“I thought it was pretty novel,” said Smith, an economics professor. “I’m literally teaching this in my class that tariffs are a tax, that tariffs will raise prices domestically.”

Asked if he thought the message was effective, Smith said that’s up in the air.

“I don’t know if it will change people’s minds,” he said, referring to Americans who support U.S. President Trump’s tariffs on Canada and other countries. “There is a current of, let’s say, resistance to information that is quite pervasive.” 

But, he added, “if one of the incentives was to get people talking about tariffs, it certainly has achieved that goal.”

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The federal government has launched an anti-tariff billboard campaign in 12 mostly Republican-voting states and in Washington, D.C. Messages on the billboards include, “Tariffs are a tax at the gas pump” and “Tariffs are a tax on hardworking Americans.”

Although the jury is still out on the campaign’s effectiveness, one thing’s for certain — it has gone viral.

Even though the signs only started popping up over the past few days, many American media outlets have already covered the story with eye-catching headlines such as “Canada targets U.S. tariffs with provocative billboards across Florida.”

One Reddit post about a billboard in Buckeye, Ariz., has so far garnered 13,000 upvotes from readers and more than 500 comments. 

Ottawa launched the campaign “to inform Americans of the economic impacts of tariffs,” said Global Affairs Canada spokesperson John Babcock in an email to CBC News.

The tariffs he’s referring to include a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, and threatened tariffs on a broad range of other Canadian goods, including cars and car parts, set to take effect on Wednesday.

The billboard campaign is up against ubiquitous messaging from Trump that imposing tariffs on goods imported from other countries will force companies to build factories in the U.S., creating more jobs and strengthening the economy.

There also appears to be a glitch in the campaign. On his way to work at a nearby hospital in Columbus, Ga., Kelly Jessop says he spotted one that said “Tariffs are a tax” in English, but that the rest of the message was in French.

“I just thought it was funny,” he said. “Nobody in south Georgia speaks French.… So that would be completely lost on the majority of people in that area.”

CBC News did not immediately hear back from Global Affairs on the bilingual billboard.

Chris Ervin also thought the billboard he sighted in New Port Richey, Fla., this week was funny — but for different reasons. The message was: “Tariffs are a tax on your grocery bill.”

“I burst out laughing,” said Ervin, who staunchly supports Trump’s tariffs and believes the Canadian government is wasting its money in Florida. 

“This is Trump territory. The majority of people here love what he’s doing,” he said. 

When CBC News suggested that American companies forced to pay 25 per cent tariffs on imports may pass on the cost to American shoppers, Ervin responded that he could avoid price increases by buying domestic products at the supermarket. 

“Look at all the brands that we can buy that’s American made,” he said. “I’m not going to buy the Canadian whiskeys. I’ll end up buying something American made.”

Economist Moshe Lander says Ervin’s argument highlights a flaw in the Canadian government’s messaging that tariffs will lead to higher food prices.

“American consumers don’t buy a lot of groceries from Canada to begin with. And what groceries they do buy from Canada, they should very easily be able to find substitutes,” said Lander, a senior lecturer at the University of Concordia in Montreal. 

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He suggests the grocery message is ineffective because “a scare tactic only works if it’s backed up by a credible threat.”

Moshe says the warning that tariffs are a tax at the gas pump packs more punch, because it’s credible.

Trump has said he will impose a 10 per cent tariff on oil and gas exports from Canada.

Much of Alberta’s oil is sent to U.S. refineries which are set up to process Canadian crude. Moshe says there’s no easy substitution.

“The only [other country] that has Alberta-type crude is Venezuela and that’s on the U.S. hit list, so that’s not happening.” The Trump administration has recently deported hundreds of Venezuelans, claiming without evidence that they are gang members or “alien terrorists.” 

Global Affairs did not respond to a question about the suggested messaging flaw, and did not provide a cost for the billboard campaign. 

Regardless of the messaging, it’s still questionable if the billboards will carry much sway. 

“What does the Canadian government expect to get out of some kind of campaign like this?” said Ervin.

“I can’t imagine anybody in Florida paying attention to those things.”