Talking To Americans - Content

Content

The intent was to satirize perceived American ignorance of Canada and the rest of the world. Examples included:

• persuading Americans to congratulate Canada on legalizing VCRs or adopting the 24-hour day (ex-Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was fooled by this one).
• various political controversies involving one or more Canadian provinces.
• congratulating the Canadian government on building a dome over its "national igloo" (apparently a downsized version of the United States Capitol made out of ice) to protect it from global warming (one of the interview subjects so fooled was former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, whom Mercer later stated had asked off-camera if this was a "controversial igloo").
• changing the words in the Canadian Anthem and asking Americans to sing it.
• congratulating Canada for officially joining North America.
• congratulating Canada for moving the capital city from Kingston, Ontario to Toronto (the actual capital is Ottawa, and then-Vice President Al Gore failed to correct Mercer regarding Toronto being the capital).
• asking university students and professors to sign a petition against the Saskatchewan seal hunt and the Toronto polar bear hunt.
• asking Americans to condemn Canada's practice of euthanizing senior citizens by setting them adrift on Northern ice floes.
• asking Americans how many states Canada has (Canada has provinces and territories, not states).
• Saying that global warming is causing Canada's polar ice caps to melt and break in two, resulting in a bipolar Canada, and that the two polar caps can be joined back together with the use of tugboats. He further asks if America would assist in curing bipolar Canada with the use of tugboats, and that Canada will be using a big tugboat named Theodore.
• Convincing tourists at Mount Rushmore that the mineral rights to the mountain had been sold to a Canadian firm, and that this firm was getting ready to drill for oil in Lincoln's forehead.

Professors at Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, New York University and Stanford University were consistently fooled by absurdities such as the "Saskatchewan seal hunt". The only Americans who were shown outsmarting Mercer were: a university student who spent her time laughing at him (before finally answering), and a small child who pointed out to his mother, who was also tricked, that Canada had provinces, not states.