Flick Off - Choice of Name

Choice of Name

The choice of the campaign's name is intended both as a reference to a light switch (reflecting the energy-conservation theme) and the exhortation "fuck off". This deliberate ambiguity is reflected in the design of the "Flick Off" logo, in which the L and I in "flick" are designed to resemble a U, in the branded promotional items for sale as part of the campaign, and in the website which features phrases like "are we flicked?". The power symbol used as an "o" in "off" may also represent a raised middle finger.

The choice was criticized by several Ontario opposition politicians. In speaking of the campaign, Peter Kormos of the NDP said "It's silly, it's embarrassing, and clearly it's an ad agency that has a bunch of flickin' amateurs as employees." Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty responded that "if people want to take offence at something, don't take offence at the "flick off" campaign. Take offence at the fact that we are, as a species, raising the temperature on our planet." Toronto Sun lifestyle columnist and Burlington city council candidate Marianne Meed Ward responded that the debate over words was the privilege of the rich and pampered.