Was This the Dumbest $75M Ad Ever?
Chaos for Starmer, Trade Wars for Carney, and 11.4 Billion Impressions of Vanity
From the UK’s disastrous week under Labour to a major trade gaffe in Canada, and Doug Ford’s surprising turn as global spokesman for tariffs and Reaganomics — we unpack a week of political faceplants, media spin, and near-perfect lipstick jobs.
🧨 1. A Week in the Life of a Labour PM
One tweet said it all.
Six political scandals. One week. And a mounting sense that Keir Starmer’s government is spiraling:
Botched handling of the Maccabi fan ban
Immigration failures (again)
Rape gang inquiry collapses
Labour loses its own seat in Wales
Starmer caught in a China fib
An Epping sex offender goes AWOL
We ask: Is this just governing as usual? Or has Labour lost the plot just one year into its mandate?
“This feels like third-term fatigue… but it’s only year one.”
🗳 2. Labour Gets Wrecked in Wales
A shock by-election in Caerphilly saw Labour collapse to 11%.
Plaid Cymru won, Reform surged to second — and Farage is claiming “main challenger” status.
We break down:
What the Welsh result tells us about progressive alliances
Whether Reform has a hard ceiling
And why Labour MPs are already talking like they’ve lost
“They’ve only got the cards they’ve got — and we’ve seen what’s in that deck.”
🇨🇦 3. Ontario’s World Series Ad Bombs Trade Talks
Premier Doug Ford ran a $75M ad campaign during the World Series — using Ronald Reagan’s words to shame Trump’s tariffs.
Trump responded by escalating tariffs. Negotiations collapsed. The Reagan Foundation called it misinformation.
We debate:
Was this political genius… or tactical self-sabotage?
Who was the ad really for — Trump or Ontarians?
And did Mark Carney know it was coming?
“It smells like genius… but I’m not smart enough to understand why.”
💄 Lipstick on a Gerbil: Doug Ford Defends the Ad
In our favourite comms segment, we rate Ford’s CNN appearance defending the ad.
Was he playing 4D chess, or just trying to out-Trump Trump?
Our verdict:
🧴🧴🧴 Three coats — Warm, confident, and weirdly likeable.
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