The SNP Government has been accused of frittering public money away after more than trebling their spending on advertising over the last two years.
Figures obtained by the Daily Record show the Scottish Government spent more than £6.5million between January 1, 2017 and October 31, 2019.
The money was spent on online, social media, billboards, newspapers, magazines and TV advertising over 33 months.
From January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017 they spent £811,674, while from the start of this year to Halloween £2.4m was splashed out.
The Scottish Labour Party's finance spokeswoman, Rhoda Grant, said the money could have been better spent on funding the "over-burdened and under-funded NHS".
She added: "The amount of money the Scottish Government has frittered on billboards, magazine and TV adverts so far this year is frankly astonishing and quite troubling.
"While the people of Scotland are bearing the brunt of combined Tory and SNP austerity and our underfunded public services are buckling under the weight of cuts, the SNP’s spending of nearly £2.5 million on publicity is a slap in the face to the public.
"Clearly publicity is more important to the SNP than child poverty or the state of our over-burdened and under-funded NHS.
"This looks very much like the SNP are increasing their profile for political reasons which coincides curiously with both a general election and renewed to calls for another decisive independence referendum.
"At this time of crippling austerity, food banks and the two-child cap, this egregious use of public money throws into sharp relief the callousness of this SNP Government."
While, Tory shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said the SNP should take out full-page advert to apologise to the people of Scotland about their record in office.
Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said: " It’s hard to imagine what the SNP government has to boast about through this extravagant advertising budget.
"It can’t publicise its record on education given the state of Scotland’s schools, and its disastrous performance on the NHS is nothing to shout about.
"The nationalists have even suppressed Scotland’s economy and presides over a chaotic, soft-touch justice system.
"The only adverts they should be taking out are full-page apologies to the people of Scotland."
A spokesperson for Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: “On the day it emerged that Boris Johnson wasted £5m in three weeks on advertising a Brexit date that didn’t happen – almost as much as the SNP Government spent in three years on vital public awareness initiatives on cancer, organ donation and road safety campaigns – these are crass and ill-judged comments that show precisely why nobody in Scotland should trust Boris Johnson’s Tories.
“The only apology that’s needed is from Boris Johnson for the billions he’s already wasted on a Brexit that will do nothing but harm to Scotland.”
