VANCOUVER -- The British Columbia NDP marked April Fool's Day on Monday with the release of spoof ads celebrating the party's leader as an "evil genius" responsible for the dismal TV sitcoms and bad hair of the 1990s.
With tongues planted firmly in cheeks, the party's social media mockery of B.C. Liberal attack ads deemed Adrian Dix the architect of all that went wrong that decade -- from the Spice Girls and the destruction of the Brazilian rain forest to plaid shirts and Jennifer Aniston's hair.
The New Democrat leader is also to blame for Wayne Gretzky's retirement, the federal GST and the Vancouver Canucks' Stanley Cup loss that marked the "decade of destruction," said the online ads.
"Adrian Dix, architect of the decade of despair, destruction, disappointment, and desperation," said the ads, which were distributed via email and online but didn't air on television or radio.
"The evil genius behind the Spice Girls, Marilyn Manson, destruction of the Brazilian rain forest, plaid shirts, the hair...."
At the end, Dix appears to say he approved the ads.
Dix then turned to ask someone off camera: "They do know it's 2013, right?"
The ads poke fun at B.C. Liberal attack ads targeting Dix for his time as chief of staff to former New Democrat premier Glen Clark from 1996 to 1999.
The British Columbia election campaign officially gets underway this month, and Dix has vowed to run a positive campaign.
The campaign for the May 14 provincial election will begin in a couple of weeks.
