What Québec Wants™

Viewing the #MeToo movement through Québec’s cultural lens.

"Culturally, we have a very high bar for what constitutes sexual harassment, both socially and legally. We are more tolerant of men’s improper behavior. Any woman is used to having men commenting on her physical appearance: We call them compliments (and men think of it as just being men). No woman would go to Human Resources if a male colleague were to ask about her sexual life: We call that joking."

These are the words of Simona Siri, an Italian freelance journalist who is a regular contributor to La Stampa and Vanity Fair. In this Washington Post article published last December, she argues that cultural differences explain why the #MeToo movement played out very differently in Italy. "Very few women have come forward, and men have faced few consequences. More alarming is the fact that in Italy no politician has been implicated — nor any high-profile writer, CEO, doctor, TV personality or journalist."  She adds: "In Italy, the #QuellaVoltaChe movement (the equivalent of #MeToo —  it means “that time that”) generated 20,000 tweets in the first week and a lot of discussion online. Then it quietly was buried among the topics that no one really wants to address."

Here's another view from Japan: "Ours is a rigidly patriarchal society, and women are rarely invited to talk about discrimination woes. The rape culture (fictional and otherwise), however, has always thrived like barnacles on an ocean liner, partly because Japanese women have taken it upon themselves to look demure and endure, endure, endure. My grandmother used to say: For a woman to survive in Japan, she must appease her menfolk in one way or another."

#MeToo might be a global movement but its manifestations are local.

A survey from the Angus Reid Institute published last week found views on workplace sexual harassment are shaped in large part by an individual’s age and gender but a closer look at the findings by region suggests that views in Québec differ from those in the rest of Canada. Like the vast majority of Canadians, Quebeckers believe there should be no forgiveness for sexual misconduct in the workplace but their definition of what’s acceptable and unacceptable behaviour differs.

Quebeckers take a stronger stand about sexual harassment yet they are more accepting of behaviours Canadians in the RoC find unacceptable.

Quebeckers, like Canadians living in the rest of Canada, believe the time has finally come to strongly denounce any form of sexual harassement. In fact, they appear even less forgiving.

Quebeckers are also significantly less likely to believe there is ambiguity about what sexual harassment is or how it’s defined.

At the same time, they are more likely to find some behaviours acceptable. For example, the Angus Reid survey found that for 30% of Quebeckers, a boss can "faire la bise" (cheek kiss an employee) while only 10% in the rest of Canada believe it's an acceptable behaviour.

French actress Catherine Deneuve got into trouble when she co-signed a letter published in Le Monde denouncing the #MeToo movement as a witch-hunt against men. The authors wrote “We defend the freedom to importune, indispensable for sexual freedom.” The reaction was swift and justified. Deneuve apologized.

“The freedom to importune.” Really? You can't defend the indefensible. There is no place for sexual harassment in the workplace or elsewhere. But where the lines are drawn varies depending on where people live. The Angus Reid survey suggests that people in Quebec, like in Italy and Japan, view and respond to the #MeToo movement through their own socio-cultural filter. That is also true for most global movements or moments.

 

From fame in 15 minutes to 25 years in jail

ERIC BLAIS

Just when I thought I was getting a case of Twitter fatigue, the randomness of what it serves up keeps it interesting.

The telegenic spokesperson for the most militant Québec student association, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, tweets that he’ll be on CNN in 15 minutes. Would CNN cover a peaceful protest?

A 75-year-old judge in Québec City is found guilty of murdering his disabled wife. The judge, known for his proper use of the French language, said one word when the verdict was read: ostie. (Québec French profanity)

Then there’s the tweet from Adweek about CocaCola’s security camera footage campaign. A clever twist on the grainy images usually associated with the darker side of society and a beautiful reminder that people can do good.

How about joining peopleforgood.ca and make the world a better place?

 

Movement marketing

Scott Goodson: What Marketers Can Learn From The Largest Act Of Civil Disobedience in Canadian History.

ERIC BLAIS

I’m a big fan of Montreal-born Scott Goodson and his agency StrawberryFrog.

And I see the value in what he calls ‘cultural movement marketing’. A marketing model his agency says ‘builds brands by identifying, sparking, organizing, leading and/or aligning with an idea on the rise in culture and building a multiplatform communications around this idea so that passionate advocates can belong, rally, engage and bring about change.’

Since he's from Montreal, I can also see Scott Goodson’s interest in the ‘movement’ that started 102 days ago opposing a proposed increase in tuition fees. He published his thoughts yesterday in Forbes about the lessons marketers can draw from the Quebec student protests.

Goodson writes: "Marketers have the resources and clout to explore some of these stories and issues themselves, or to fund talented storytellers (and there are a lot of them out there) who can bring these ideas to life. The key here is in finding ideas that people can feel passionate about—ideas that folks can rally around. Those ideas can form the basis of a movement."

He also warns marketers: "Marketers entering this domain must have some integrity and some guts. Movement marketing works best when it’s done with honesty and openness. The Montreal uprising igniters can attest to how much scrutiny this kind of storytelling is subject to; people will question the agenda of any marketer getting involved in telling real stories or tackling real issues. So only get involved with stories you genuinely believe in and care about. And be straight with people."

I agree with Goodson’s conclusion: "I think marketers are going to need to move in this direction to connect with people in a deeper, more meaningful way—beyond the tired salespitches and fluffy commercials."

However, when the movement leads to violence and civil disobedience, I can’t think of products and services marketers who would jump at the opportunity to link to the cause and fuel the movement.

Happy now?

The great majority of parents would like to see their children become better off economically than they are, and some would argue that hope would be even more common among the children.

Yet many polls suggest that neither the majority of children nor parents in Canada, the United States and other parts of the world are confident that this progress will happen.

Wealth is one thing but what about happiness? There’s much talk these days about happiness being a better indicator of prosperity than strictly an economic one.

A study by the University of Michigan says Canada is the ninth happiest country on Earth. Denmark ranks first on happiness and life satisfaction while the U.S.A came in 16th place. The World Values Survey, conducted by the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, collected national surveys from 97 countries between 1981 and 2007. The authors of the study say the reasons for Canada's strong showing are probably linked to prosperity and political freedom. The full survey results are in the chart below.

What about happiness in Québec?

A recent survey provides an indication of happiness levels in Canada by region. Ipsos Reid asked Canadians to what extent they agree or disagree with the statement: I think I’m happier than my parents were when they were my age. Quebeckers are the least likely to say they’re happier than their parents were.

Top2Box Agreement

• Atlantic 54%
• Québec 44%
• Ontario 57%
• Prairies 64%
• Alberta 53%
• BC 56%

These are somewhat surprising results given the general view that Quebeckers have this ‘joie de vivre’, an outlook on life that is anchored deep in their socio-cultural makeup. I would argue that this is still very much the case. And this sense that they are less happy than the previous generation doesn’t indicate that Quebeckers are less happy than Canadians in the RoC. Just that the bar was set pretty high by their parents.

St. Jean Baptiste Day Q&A

Today is Québec’s national holiday. Here’s everything you always wanted to know about it but were afraid to ask. (This was compiled by Jason Magder for the Montreal Gazette)

 

If it’s a Québec holiday, why is it called St. Jean Baptiste Day. Was he a popular Quebecker?

No, actually, St. John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ, as his name suggests. He was apparently Jesus’s cousin, and he was killed by the king at the time, Herod. His head was brought to the queen on a platter. June 24, the day of his birth, is a feast day.

Yuk. We celebrate him by eating off platters?

Not anymore. The holiday is still celebrated in some European countries, but in Québec, it has evolved into a celebration of Queebec culture.

When did this happen?

There has almost always been a celebration of St. Jean Baptiste Day in Quebec, but it only took on nationalist undertones in the 1800s. The day was celebrated regularly in France, so when the colonists came over, they kept up the tradition. It wasn’t until 1834, when Quebeckers were starting to organize to rise up against the ruling British, that this holiday became associated with Québec pride. That year, a St. Jean banquet was held in Montréal, and it was later declared that it would be an annual celebration of the people of Québec. Celebrations were interrupted for several years after a group of rebels rose up against British rule in 1837 and 1838. But when tensions had cooled, the St. Jean Baptiste Society was founded in 1843, with one of its primary missions to organize the annual celebrations. Today, it’s a huge celebration of French culture, and the province in general. There are concerts, parades and fireworks. The annual concert on the night of St. Jean Baptiste is a huge draw, attracting people from all over the province.

But why was that specific day chosen as a day to celebrate Quebec?

It’s been said that at the time, Québec nationalists were inspired by the celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day, how it became a day to celebrate Irish culture. But St. Jean celebrations, although nationalistic in aim, weren’t originally aimed at forming a separate country. They were more to preserve and celebrate the culture in Quebec, which was then called Canada East. In fact, the song O Canada was first sung to celebrate St. Jean Baptiste Day in 1880 in Quebec City. The song became popular, and by the early 1900s, there were several English versions of the song.

Wait. Are you telling me our national anthem originally celebrated just the nation of Québec?

Yes. So when you hear people belting the song out on Canada Day, they’re actually singing a song that originally celebrated only French culture in Canada. The song was commissioned by the St. Jean Baptiste Society to celebrate the national holiday in 1880. It was first sung in English when King Edward VII visited the country in 1901, and the version we know today dates from 1908.

But I take it people no longer sing O Canada on St. Jean holidays.

You’re right about that. There’s a new Québec song that has sort of become the national anthem. It’s called Gens du pays. It was first performed at a St. Jean celebration in 1975 on Mount Royal, and gained popularity. Premier René Lévesque called it “the most beautiful Québécois song in the minds of all Quebeckers."

Street-smart?

Macleans magazine is publishing a ranking of Canada’s ‘smartest cities’. The ranking is based on the Canadian Council on Learning’s annual list.

Montréal doesn’t do very well.

Macleans chose to highlight this fact with an article entitled “Why does Montreal rank so poorly? Despite its abundance of culture, attendance is low.”

The choice of photography for this piece struck me. While photos for the other cities discussed in this issue show culture and learning-related images, the image of Montréal is of a young man setting something on fire during the riots that irrupted after the Habs win last week.

 

Tourism Québec claims via its slogan that Québec has been ‘providing emotions since 1534’. Its residents might spend relatively less time in museums and at the ballet but they make up for it with emotions. It’s apparently good for tourism.

 

The curious case of Nutella fans

Facebook Fan Pages are a telling sign of what’s popular. And the January 2010 statistics reveal the expected and the unexpected.

Michael Jackson leads the top 30 with 10,551,163 fans. Vin Diesel, Barack Obama follow. On the branded front (not that Michael Jackson isn’t a brand), Starbucks still leads with 5,331,423 fans. Coca-Cola is next with 4,103,026. Then Skittles with 3,555,983 fans.

Ranked #25 is Nutella. The hazelnut spread is apparently causing millions of Facebook users to join in the conversation.

As buzz.io writes “it’s safe to assume that most of the fans are from Europe but the craziest thing about Nutella’s high ranking is that it doesn’t advertise. Well, that’s not true; they spent $300,000 on media last year, which is pretty much equivalent to nothing. Here’s the impressive part: their Facebook page was created by a fan, Nutella has 5 million Google search results, there are 5,000 videos on Youtube featuring Nutella, and there are 17,000 photos featuring Nutella on Flickr.”

Why?

As ThreeMinds suggests ‘nobody really knows’.

Possible Reasons

Social media buzz experts credit Nutella's Facebook popularity to these characteristics:

1. It's European and people think Nutella is cool.

2. It reminds people of memories/trips to Europe.

3. It has such a unique taste. And oh yeah, it's too good to be true.

Then there’s World Nutella Day. The disclaimer says “nutelladay.com does not represent official views or opinions of Ferrero, S.p.A.”.

It seems to me that this what social media is all about when it comes to creating true conversations about brands among its fans. It starts with its fans. And there are serious Nutella fans in Québec.

Quebeckers and Nutella

We do not have sales data for Nutella in Québec nor do we have data on Nutella Facebook fans in Québec. However, it’s clear Quebeckers are huge fans of the stuff. 

According to PMB 2009, Quebeckers are significantly more likely to consume nut-based spreads. There are proportionally more heavy users of peanut butter in Québec. But the difference in reported consumption of hazelnut spread is striking. 8% of Canadians outside Québec used a hazelnut spread in the last month compared to a 21% of Quebeckers. So now you know where the Nutella fans are in Canada.

Love you more.

French Quebeckers have a significantly higher opinion of English Canadians than English Canadians have of them.

You say you hate me, I just love you more. You don't want me, I just want you more. (From Eminem – Love You More)

Findings from a recent Léger Marketing poll for the Association of Canadian Studies published in yesterday’s Toronto Sun.

English Canadians view immigrants and Jews more favourably than they do French Quebeckers, according to a new poll.

In fact, the only group further down the list than French Quebeckers when it comes to who English Canadians view favourably are aboriginal Canadians.

French Quebeckers have a significantly higher opinion of English Canadians than English Canadians have of them. The poll found 75% of French Quebeckers have a favourable opinion of English Canadians, but only 60.1% of English Canadians have a favourable opinion of French Quebeckers.

In Québec, French Quebeckers are viewed the most favourably, followed by English Canadians, immigrants, aboriginal Canadians, and Jews.

Léger Marketing conducted the poll for the Association for Canadian Studies. It was released exclusively to QMI Agency.

Jack Jedwab, executive director of the association, said the finding he found the most surprising was the way English- and French-speaking respondents regarded each other.

“I didn’t think the English Canadians’ perspective on French Quebeckers would be as negative as it was,” Jedwab said.

Jedwab said the results of how immigrants, Jews and aboriginal Canadians are viewed are similar to those in previous polls.

The poll also found the more time a respondent had spent with Canadians from a different background, the more likely they were to view people from that background favourably.

“It is good news for people who are engaged in promoting exchanges between Canadians of different language backgrounds,” Jedwab said.

Favourable views also increased with the age of the respondent.

Across the country, English Canadians were regarded the most favourably by all respondents at 84% — well above immigrants at 70%, Jews at 69%, French Quebeckers at 65% and aboriginal Canadians at 56%.

Albertans have the least favourable attitude in the country when it comes to immigrants, French Canadians and aboriginal Canadians, and was narrowly above Québec when it came to their view of Jews. While 80% of Albertans viewed English Canadians favourably, that dropped to 60% for immigrants, 58% for Jews, 47% for French Canadians and 45% for aboriginal Canadians.

Ontarians had the most favourable views when it came to Jews (78%) and aboriginal Canadians (59%), second most favourable on immigrants (72%) and third most favourable on French Quebeckers (60%).

The Léger poll of 1,500 respondents, conducted via web panel the week of Nov. 30, has a margin if error of 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.