'Hipster Is Not a Real Job'

"Hipster is not a real job" — That's one of the key messages of a new ad campaign launched by the Canadian province of British Columbia. Have a look at the ads below, which appear on campuses and in transit lines in the province.

The six-week ad campaign (started in August) is part of the province's broader plan to create new jobs, upgrade skills, and better-match workers to employment opportunities. The ads point to the "Career Trek" website, which includes a video series aimed at interesting young people in a range of careers. The videos consist of interviews with professionals in various fields — a lawyer, human resources specialist, mine manager, midwife, pharmacist, and so on. Each video is matched with data on average salaries, unemployment levels, and education and skill requirements in those careers. Each short concludes with the tag-line "this career could be yours."

The ads, obviously designed to grab the attention of young people in an area with no shortage of hipsters, have set the media and Twitterverse abuzz. The problem is much of that buzz has been decidedly negative.

As Emily Rogers, chair of the University of Victoria Students' Society, told the Toronto Star: "There’s no bachelor of hipsterdom offered and people understand hipster is a style of dress so it just doesn’t make sense to associate being a hipster with real jobs. They’ve really lost the message."

And that's the problem with tag-lines and campaigns like this. They tread a fine line and can easily backfire. Hit the mark and they can stimulate interest and buzz. Over-shoot it, and the message can be missed entirely.