The South Bayview Bulldog

He’s known to millions of TV viewers as the boneheaded Uncle Eugene. But Canadian actor and writer Levi MacDougall has created a near-legendary man among dumb men of Canadian advertising. And there are lots of dumb men in the contest. Uncle Eugene sells Rogers wireless service by embarrassing himself as the only jerk in sight who isn’t with Rogers. The grand-daddy of his blundering appearances is the visit to the Telecommunications Museum (above).  Eugene (Levi) is there with his nephew who humiliates his uncle in front of a large cast of characters. Anna Hardwick (second from left) is the slightly contemptuous guide who can’t believe that anyone could still receive the Internet over a phone line. Eugene is outed by his nephew for just this stone-age conduct.  Mortified, Uncle Eugene clumsily beheads a mannequin staged as an old-fashioned phone operator and draws further disgust from cool guy Jamie Spilchuk (right) who is always there to show up Eugene for the dope that he is. Spilchuck has been MacDougall’s second banana in several commercials. We particularly like the one where he aces out MacDougall for a chance to pick up the cute girl trying to find the address of the ballet school down the street. Faster search on his Rogers phone, you see.  

Pepsi in the U.S. has announced that has removed a chemical ingredient from Gatorade and other soft drinks because consumers believe it is dangerous. The ingredient is an emulsifier, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) which is also used as a flame retardant and has other industrial uses. It is still legal to use the chemical in foods in the U.S. even though it has been banned from human consumption in many countries, including Canada.  The catalyst for Pepsi’s action was a petition containing more than 200,000 names circulated by a 15-year-old Mississippi girl, Sarah Kavanagh (inset). 

The Ontario Liberal leadership balloting was a long marathon of party platitudes from people both important and not so important.  But the now Premier-Designate made her Saturday morning pitch for support a clarifying moment for delegates and members of the public alike. Her speech, in delivery, intellect and freshness, showed her to be the woman for the job. To personally address her opponents, Mr Hudak and Ms Horwath, and  to offer them easily understood reasons for them to work with her, was admirable. We think it must have swayed many undeclared delegates. I care about fiscal responsibility, she said. I care about a fair society. Ms Wynne also expressed a steely determination to win if an early election is necessary. For many in and around the riding of Don Valley West who know Ms Wynne only by her slightly leftish reputation, it was surely refreshing to see their local MPP smack in the centre of the political road. We sincerely wish the Premier well and hope she manages to keep herself and the government in the centre.