What's the Big Flickin' Deal?

There's been a lot of talk about dirty words in the last few weeks. Don Imus said some stupid words. Russell Simmons is asking rappers to stop saying three specific words. And now, another pesky curse word, or at least something that sounds like a curse word, is causing some gosh darn drama in Ontario.

The "Flick Off" campaign was launched earlier this week by billionaire Richard Branson and the Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten (the one creating the hilarious F-bomb photo-op above) to ask us to reduce our energy consumption.

When I first saw the ad slogan "Flick Off", I thought it was cool to see the government involved with a saucy sense of humour.

And lets face it, - seeing the above picture was totally entertaining (seriously - how funny is a giant F-word behind a government Minister?).

Critics, including opposition parties, are feeling that this suggestive language, already being seen in posters around Toronto, should not be exposed to kids, particularly when the campaign uses lines like "Go flick yourself" and "Are we flicked?".

In defending the campaign, Minister Broten has said that this campaign is directed at youth and is suitable for that demographic.

There is no doubt that this is a controversial campaign strategy, but those almost f-words do grab your attention. For something as serious as global warming and energy consumption reduction, maybe it's important to get more people's flickin' attention and not focus on a naughty word.

Global-TV image from cbc.ca.