Oilsands campaign hits Times Square

The Alberta government is hoping to change negative public perceptions of the oilsands by running a series of ads in New York's Times Square.

The two 10-second pro-oilsands spots run three times each hour.

One highlights the province's commitment to carbon capture and storage.

The other reads: "A good neighbour lends you a cup of sugar. A great neighbour provides you with 1.4 million barrels of oil per day. And does it responsibly. Alberta, Canada."

Jerry Bellikka, a spokesman for the premier's office, said the $17,000 campaign is worth every penny.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. "You're going to have about a million and a half people see those ads over the course of the several weeks that they are on, and for the price of the ads … it's just a tremendous opportunity to get our message out, right into the heart of the media centre of America."

Bellikka said the ads aim to defend the province and the oilsands industry.

"We want Americans to know … that we are developing oilsands in a responsible manner, that we are considering the environment and that we are doing ground-breaking work on carbon capture and storage," he said.

"We're doing ground-breaking work on reclamation and on research … and new techniques that will make the process even cleaner."

The ads started running Sept. 1 and will continue until Oct. 15.

This is the second significant ad campaign Alberta has launched in the U.S. The first ran during the summer in the Washington Post.