Accent on Integrity
The Canadians appear to go as gaga over an English accent as the Americans do, if television advertising is anything to do by. Posh English accents are preferable but any English accent will do. It’s not just national advertising campaigns. A local car dealership’s advert here in Edmonton now has an English voice-over. For some reason, Americans and Canadians associate English accents with intelligence and sophistication. If a Scottish accent is used, it is often for comic effect and is usually associated with an offensive stereotype. Actually, there’s an advert running for grass seed with a Scottish guy in it that’s not objectionable. I seem to remember there was a time when British companies used to locate their call centres in Scotland because their surveys showed that a Scottish accent was suggestive of integrity. I’ve got a feeling those call centre jobs have been moved offshore.