The North American house hippo is back and ready to tackle fake news CBC Radio

Table Of Content

• Have you seen the Canadian House Hippo before?
• The Origins of the Ad Campaign
• 'We think the house hippo is more important than ever,' says MediaSmarts executive director Kathryn Ann Hill
• What’s a Canadian House Hippo?
• The Impact of the House Hippo on Canadian Culture
• The House Hippo Today: A Nostalgic Reminder

You can even by hand-made House Hippos, house hippo art prints, t-shirts and much more. The North American House Hippo is officially listed as being “found across Canada and the Northeastern United States”, though it’s a well known fact that they primarily live up here in the True North. Myself and 37 million other Canadians are lucky to call the True North our home.

Have you seen the Canadian House Hippo before?

The new ad is part of a media literacy campaign called Break the Fake. I don’t feel as though it’s getting better or easier to navigate misinformation online. I don’t have the answers, but it’s evolving, quickly, and education is a great starting point. The House Hippo may not have been real, but the science behind the commercials was very real.

The Origins of the Ad Campaign

The average cost of home insurance in Los Angeles is $1,240 — putting the rate above the California home insurance average of $1,133 and just above the national average of $1,200. While that may seem steep, Los Angelenos are purchasing a home in the center of the U.S. film industry, steps away from the Pacific coast and home to many cultural icons. Also, consider that those who reside in California seem to love it, making the Golden State one that residents are least likely to move away from. Cleared out every closet looking for one…mom was not impressed,” said another. The North American house hippo — the legendary creature that stole the hearts of Canadians in the ’90s — seems to have resurfaced in the form of a potato. Hill believes that the house hippo still resonates with most Canadians today  — and in some ways, the hippo's message has never been so relevant.

'We think the house hippo is more important than ever,' says MediaSmarts executive director Kathryn Ann Hill

The House Hippo was meant to be a reminder to children that not everything they saw on television was real, and that they should always question what they see. In the video, a house hippo is shown foraging for crumbs of peanut butter toast in a kitchen, escaping from a house cat, and making a nest. MediaSmarts is launching the campaign ahead of Media Literacy Week (October 7-11), a national event that includes over a 100 media literacy activities across Canada. Canadians will also have access to free Break the Fake resources including a workshop, tip sheets, educational videos, lesson plans for teachers and more, for use during Media Literacy Week and beyond. As they’re shy, they wait for you to go to bed,  then they venture out in search of food and water, and materials for their nests.

And in the event of a break-in, theft coverage will give you peace of mind. Once you win that Oscar, you’re likely to want to proudly show it off. But in the event something happens to your most prized possession, home insurance includes personal property coverage to keep your belongings protected. With its proximity to the ocean, temperate weather, innovative industries and flocks of new residents, the value of homes and cost of living in LA tends to skew high.

Their favourite foods are chips, raisins and the crumbs from peanut butter on toast, and they sometimes make a rare appearance at breakfast for the chance to find their beloved peanut butter on toast crumbs. The house hippo was a part of many of our childhoods (if you are a certain age). Now, it’s bringing awareness to #BreakTheFake and teach kids about digital media literacy. They are incredibly shy, so unless they’re really craving PB toast crumbs, or you’re up in the middle of the night, you’ll likely go your whole life without ever seeing one.

The Impact of the House Hippo on Canadian Culture

La La Land has stood the test of time, remaining a hub for aspiring creators and dreamers to live among like-minded individuals while they chase their dreams. “Canadians see the house hippo,” she said in a repost of Thomas’ original post. If you’re craving Canadian nostalgia, here’s the whole commercial to remind you. I grew up in the United Kingdom, so I had never seen this tiny domesticated hippopotamus. Hill noted that the house hippo is something that all Canadians can rally behind. "I have not met a single person who knows the house hippo and who isn't thrilled about it," she said.

For those of you who have seen or used the term “house hippo” online, do you know what you’re referencing?

They are generally pretty timid, but they will protect themselves if provoked by you pet cat or dog, or whatever else is lurking in your house at night. All of it pays homage to the original public broadcast, which shows the sweet little hippo scavenging for crumbs of peanut butter toast and running away from a house cat. The commercial was created in order to educate children about critical thinking, to teach them not to accept everything that they see on television and to question what they see. The one minute long commercial, which was the subject of a television public service announcement, was produced in the style of Hinterland Who’s Who, the Canadian educational series that ran in the 1960s and 1970s.

The House Hippo Today: A Nostalgic Reminder

You can also lower your rates by shopping smart when looking for your home. Purchasing a home farther from the coast and fault line and in an area with less crime can improve your rates. If the sound of sirens doesn't bother you, purchasing a home close to a first-responder station like a police or fire department can also help lower your rate.

The House Hippo was cute, funny, and relatable, and it resonated with Canadians of all ages. The House Hippo was also successful in achieving its goal of promoting critical thinking among children. The CCA reported that after the House Hippo commercials aired, there was a significant increase in the number of children who questioned the advertisements they saw on television. The House Hippo also serves as a reminder to question what we see and to be critical of the media we consume.

The North American house hippo is back — and ready to tackle fake news - CBC.ca

The North American house hippo is back — and ready to tackle fake news.

Posted: Fri, 04 Oct 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Proximity to the coast, the fault line or an expensive zip code will most likely raise your rates. So if there’s any chance you’ll run into Kim Kardashian at your local supermarket, you might want to prepare to pay a little more. You won't need an old newspaper for this one - it's recent enough that youtube will do. In 1999, The Concerned Children's Advertisers released a 60 second advertisement as part of the Break The Fake campaign, with the intent of educating children about critical thinking in regards to advertising. "It didn't receive a ton of attention at the time, it didn't win industry accolades and it didn't make us famous. It's only now that the kids who saw that ad are online and in advertising that we're getting the impact of it." But what happens when it feels like we live in an age where everything is like the house hippo?

The original campaign was created to teach kids to think critically about what they see on TV, and the tiny hippo became a beloved Canadian symbol. Break the Fake, a campaign launching October 1st, is bringing the hippo back to encourage people of all ages to check information they see online. The House Hippo has also inspired TikToks, it has a page on Urban Dictionary and there is even a band called House Hippo that honours the animal that we all loved, and all hoped was real enough to find in our own homes.