NDP or Conservative ad? Tory attack ad has striking similarities to 2011 NDP ad

WATCH ABOVE: Did the Conservatives base their new commercial on a 2011 NDP ad? Watch the video above and decide for yourself.

The Conservative party released a new attack ad this week aimed at Justin Trudeau in the lead-up to October’s federal election.

The actors are sitting in a boardroom looking over Trudeau’s resume; they suggest he doesn’t have the experience to be Prime Minister and is more concerned with legalizing marijuana than balancing the budget.

But, the actors admit, he’s got nice hair.

You’d be forgiven for not thinking twice about the originality of the ad. But if you’re a connoisseur of Canadian political attack ads, you might think different.

The people who came up with an almost identical ad – four years ago – certainly noticed.

“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If so, we’re feeling awfully flattered today,” read a blog post on the NOW Group’s website.

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The communications company created a very similar ad for the NDP during the 2011 provincial election, attacking Hugh McFadyen’s resume.

The similarities? Both ads feature professionally dressed people of varying ages sitting around a boardroom table criticizing their respective opponent’s so-called resumes.

The criticisms are different, in 2011, they criticized McFadyen’s penchant for privatization, and concluded he was too big a risk.

But both end with a superficial compliment; McFadyen had a “nice suit,” while Trudeau has “nice hair.”

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The company says its ad helped “turn the tide” for the NDP but it wonders whether the ad will pay off for Harper’s Conservatives. The company’s bias, however, is clear: it says that Tom Mulcair and his NDP are the best choice.

“We believe every campaign is unique, with its own challenges and opportunities. Copying even a highly successful ad (cough, blush) from a previous election isn’t necessarily a smart approach.”