Canadian Oilverlords

Well, people, this video was all over Twitter last week, and perhaps you've seen it. If not, though, you really need take a moment and check it out, because it's terrific for so many reasons.

Canadian Oilverlords, The Daily Show

Alright, now that you've seen it I'll talk about why I think it's so great. I love that Wyatt Cenac came to Fort Mac to film parts of this segment. I love that he spoke to local people - and the comment about him not being a hockey fan because he's American? Freaking brilliant.

I love that Cenovus SVP Drew Zieglagansberger spoke to Cenac, and that he played along so beautifully. I think the management at Cenovus are handling their relationship with the media so cleverly. Their television ad campaign continues to impress me, and agreeing to appear on this segment of The Daily Show indicates that they are willing to take some risks to get out a positive (and damn funny) message. I admire their spirit, quite honestly, and I think they are a company to watch.

The bits filmed at MacDonald Island Park are amazing. The video of the little Noralta Skating Club skaters learning to skate and being presented as "Canuckofascists"? Hilarious - and adorable, too. Cenac on the Zamboni trying (and failing) to sing "Oh Canada"? I laughed so hard I cried a bit. Kudos to MacDonald Island Park for participating in filming this. They could have backed away and declined due to fear of where it might go, but again I think the management there is rather bold and willing to take some risks. I think it's paying off in a huge way, so I applaud them once again.

Okay, so you get that I think it's funny. There's more to it than that, though. So often in this city we find ourselves being skewered and thus we feel the need to respond defensively. When we do it then seems  we have no sense of humour. This piece showed that you can poke fun at us and we can take the joke quite well. There is nothing we need to defend in this piece. It's all in good fun, and it really shows that our region's public image just might be changing. I'm not saying it will change any minds about the oilsands industry, but perhaps pieces like this will help the world to begin to see that us "Canadian Oilverlords" are really just people who love hockey, Zambonis, Tim Horton's, and a good laugh, too.