Canada's anti-tariff billboards in the U.S. go viral — but is anyone swayed?

An unusual billboard caught Tom Smith's eye earlier this week as he was heading to work at Emory University in Atlanta.

Paid for by the Canadian government, the billboard told Americans in big bold letters that "tariffs are a tax on your grocery bill."

"I thought it was pretty novel," said Smith, an economics professor. "I'm literally teaching this in my class that tariffs are a tax, that tariffs will raise prices domestically."

Asked if he thought the message was effective, Smith said that's up in the air.

"I don't know if it will change people's minds," he said, referring to Americans who support U.S. President Trump's tariffs on Canada and other countries. "There is a current of, let's say, resistance to information that is quite pervasive." 

But, he added, "if one of the incentives was to get people talking about tariffs, it certainly has achieved that goal."

The federal government has launched an anti-tariff billboard campaign in 12 mostly Republican-voting states and in Washington, D.C. Messages on the billboards include, "Tariffs are a tax at the gas pump" and "Tariffs are a tax on hardworking Americans."

Although the jury is still out on the campaign's effectiveness, one thing's for certain — it has gone viral.

Even though the signs only started popping up over the past few days, many American media outlets have already covered the story with eye-catching headlines such as "Canada targets U.S. tariffs with provocative billboards across Florida."

One Reddit post about a billboard in Buckeye, Ariz., has so far garnered 13,000 upvotes from readers and more than 500 comments. 

Ottawa launched the campaign "to inform Americans of the economic impacts of tariffs," said Global Affairs Canada spokesperson John Babcock in an email to CBC News.

The tariffs he's referring to include a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, and threatened tariffs on a broad range of other Canadian goods, including cars and car parts, set to take effect on Wednesday.

The billboard campaign is up against ubiquitous messaging from Trump that imposing tariffs on goods imported from other countries will force companies to build factories in the U.S., creating more jobs and strengthening the economy.

There also appears to be a glitch in the campaign. On his way to work at a nearby hospital in Columbus, Ga., Kelly Jessop says he spotted one that said "Tariffs are a tax" in English, but that the rest of the message was in French.