The Green party is going on the attack — against attack ads.

Party leader Elizabeth May has unveiled a 30-second spot that spoofs political attack ads, complete with a militaristic drum roll and ominous voice-over.

"Tired of the name-calling? Smear campaigns? Mudslinging? Are you disgusted with the state of Canadian politics?" the narrator intones. "This does not represent our Canada. It doesn't have to be like this."

May told a news conference on Monday that the ad is meant to encourage people to reject negative political advertising.

"We do not have to accept a contaminated, vitriolic, rabidly partisan, unpleasant political culture," she said. "It is not part of democracy."

The Greens are spending less than $10,000 to run the ad on the television networks CBC, CTV and TVA. It will air three times this week, although May didn't rule out a longer run.

The party has also launched a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to "change the channel" on negative political ads.

May acknowledges the send-up isn't meant to sway Canadians to vote Green. But she said the party felt compelled to push back against negative ads after a recent round of Conservative attacks on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Those since-yanked ads, which featured an out-of-context video clip of Ignatieff, prompted a torrent of criticism — even from some conservative commentators.

The Conservative party didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.