An ad campaign targeting Alberta's oilsands development could irreparably damage Canada's image in Europe and could even hurt tourism and trade agreements in this country, an Ottawa public relations expert warns.

Rainforest Action Network, the group that created a controversial tourism boycott campaign, is taking its "Rethink Alberta" message to England.

The goal of the campaign is to highlight "the decimation caused by tar sands in Canada," as well as "asking British people not to help contribute to the problem" by staying away from the province, the group's website says.

Along with seven other U.S. and Canadian environmental groups, Rainforest Action Network is putting graphic images of the impact from the oilsands on 11 large digital billboards throughout London and posting ads on some of the United Kingdom's most popular websites.

The images, featuring wildlife coated in oil, will have a long-lasting and far-reaching impact on how the world sees Alberta and ultimately all of Canada, says one media expert.

Bernie Gauthier, a communications consultant with Delta Media, told CTV News Channel that the ad campaign can affect the public deeply -- and not just about the Alberta oilsands projects.

"You can definitely change their mind especially when you appeal to them with the kind of strong visuals and strong emotions that this campaign features," Gauthier said.

"These campaigns will make a difference over time in terms of how people think about Canada at a gut or emotional level. That can have an impact."

Industry Minister Tony Clement spoke about the ad campaign on Wednesday, telling CTV News that "the picture they paint" of the oilsands is "terrible."

"The kinds of improvements that are being made in the extraction of oil and gas in this province and throughout the country is not being represented in that advertising campaign."

"I think we're up against a real machine of advocacy and misinformation," he said, adding that Ottawa is "not going to abandon by any stretch the oil and gas industry here in Alberta or elsewhere in the country."

U.S. campaign

Earlier this summer, the same environmental group unveiled a similar ad campaign in U.S. media markets, urging American tourists to avoid Alberta due to the oilsands projects.

The ads juxtaposed footage of birds dying in oilsands tailings ponds with birds dying in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

That campaign drew angry reaction from the oil industry and Canadian politicians, including Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who pointed out several factual errors in the group's message.

They said it grossly overestimated the size of the area affected by the oilsands development and ignored land reclamation and water use rules.

Brant Olson, of the San Francisco-based organization, said the errors in the early billboards have been fixed and the claims in the U.K. ads will be thoroughly documented.

The public reaction to Rethink Alberta was also heated, forcing the sponsors to suspend an online forum on the campaign's website.

Still, the campaign continues in the U.S., with the group expected to begin mailing out 7,500 postcards criticizing the oilsands to travel agents and tourism companies there.

Gauthier said the campaign could irreparably damage Canada's image in Europe as a pristine natural wonderland and could hurt far more than the tourism industry.

"I think it'll affect people's decisions in a very subtle way. It'll affect where they decide to live, where they decide to travel, where they decide to study, it can even put pressure on politicians in terms of trade agreements," he said. "Canada's positioning, Canada's image in the world is important and these kind of campaigns … and all the media coverage they generate, do make a difference."

"And it's not a good thing for Canada."

The campaign's effectiveness will depend on how long the groups can afford to run the on-line ads and pay for the electronic billboards, Gauthier said.

He added that Ottawa, the Alberta government and the oil industry can ill afford to let the environmental groups take the initiative.

"You can't just sit back and let your opponents feed the message and feed the visuals to the public," he said. "You need to fight fire with fire … with strong, positive images."

With files from The Canadian Press