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Amongst the established Dutch parties, it was, however, the Socialist Party which appeared as the most effective exponent of these hard Eurosceptic views during the current campaign. The party, through slogans such as ‘Silence is Consent’ and ‘Send a Watchdog to Brussels’, clearly sought to canalise wider feelings of discontent about European integration. The latter slogan was, moreover, accompanied by probably the most effective visual image of the campaign – a television advertisement featuring an improbably small, but very feisty watchdog who becomes visibly agitated at his owner’s feet while watching a European political broadcast. The advertisement then cut to scenes of the dog crossing the Netherlands on the way to Brussels, given directions and encouragement by his (or her?) compatriots, before arriving in front of the European Parliament building to bark – quite literally – objections at an unacceptable state of affairs. Apart from ensuring a brief (and well-deserved) moment of fame for its canine star, the campaign sought to position the Socialist Party as a broader ‘protest party’ whose Eurosceptic appeal could potentially extend beyond its more traditional electoral base.

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Originally posted by jeff house:
It seems a bit longer than the political ads we normally get to see.

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Yes, doesn't it? Must be what they did with their three minutes of free-time telecast.

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clearly sought to canalise wider feelings of discontent about European integration.

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