Advertising Standards of Canada

Advertising Standards of Canada

Introduction

Following the increased connection to the digital world, the Canadian Advertising and Marketing Law formed a complex mix to deal with issues such as data breaches, privacy violations, intellectual property infringement, protecting the consumer, and competitors against false representations, among others. According to Hearn (2017), sometimes the Canadian Advertising and Marketing laws can be reduced into four main pillars, ‘be clear,’ ‘tell the truth,’ ‘get consent,’ and ‘play fair.’ The Canadian Code of Advertising is a combination of court decisions, provincial statutes and regulations, and the government regulatory body enforcement guidelines, directives, and policies. It also involves scores of industry and other self-regulatory, principles, body decisions, code of practice, and guidance. This study will explore some of the rules of the Advertising Standards Canada, find an advertisement that breaks one of the rules and suggestions on how to improve and not break the law.

Advertising Standards of Canada

The ASC has a set of 14 sets of clauses that govern the Canadian advertising and marketing field (Ad Standards, 2019). One of the clauses is based on accuracy and clarity. This is a clause which is focused on assessing the accuracy and truthfulness of the message or advertisement. According to this clause, an ad should not omit any information which may make it misleading or deceitful. An ad should not contain any misleading information either intentionally or unintentionally. This clause also directs that disclaimers should be placed in a visible place and should be audible and visible (Ad Standards, 2019). An example of how this is used is in the cigarette industry, where the cigarette companies are required to state that cigarette smoking is harmful, and it must be displayed in a place where it is visible. All the advertising claims and representations should be supported by reliable evidence that can be presented to ASC upon request.

The other rule is price claims. This involves the prices shown in the advertisement or discounts. According to the ASC, no advertisement that should provide deceptive prices or unrealistic price competition. Before advertising the price of a product, the manufacturer or individual must ensure that it has been sold or will be sold for the next six months at the stated price (Ad Standards, 2019). The cost and discounts should also be easy for the reader to see clearly and any price in which is not in Canadian funds must be identified. For instance, when colleges are advertising the courses they offer, they clearly state the cost of studying each course.

Advertisements must also not, in any way disregard, or unfairly discredit other products, entities, or companies. Exaggerating the nature of the competitive difference is unethical business practice because it intends to attack the competitor’s products or services. For example, a superior company that deals with detergents should not air advertisements comparing its washing powder against that of the competitors.

When using testimonials, it is required that they must reflect the current opinion of the participants, genuine and reasonable. The information should also be reliable, and the participants should have had experience with the product. Testimonials are most effective for services because they are not tangible.

Imitation of slogans and illustrations is highly prohibited, according to ASC. This is because each company has its own copyright regulations that restrict other firms from using similar information or techniques (Ad Standards, 2019). In advertising, imitation would bring deceitful information that may mislead the consumer. Examples of some commonly imitated things are the visions and mission statements of a company.

When advertising products that are prohibited from sale to minors, the advertisement should be in a way that does not appeal to the children. People who are also featured in such adverts should be adults. For instance, liquor advertisements should be aired late at night to avoid minors.

When advertising to children, the advert should not be directed at exploiting their lack of experience and loyalty. The advert should also not cause any physical or emotional harm to the children. This is because most children are not mature in their decision making and can be easily lured (Silva, Higgins, and Hussein, 2015).

Advertisements should also not exploit or use fear to exploit consumers. This is when firms take advantage of the worries which people might have to sell their products. For instance, in an outbreak of a pest that destroys farm products, a company may use the fear that farmers have on losing their farm products to advertise a pesticide. This type of advertisement is considered to be biased (Gibson, 2014).

Bait and switch advertisement is where a company or individual advertises for a product with a limited supply that cannot fulfill the demand and not clearly stating in the advertisement — for instance, advertising a brand of shoes on the national television knowing that the remaining stock will not satisfy the demand. This is because the seller may use this as a bait to attract customers then change the terms on the advert once the stock on offer is over.

Advertisements should also change or alter the meaning or information given by professional scientists. If this must happen, then the company or individual advertising must have a scientific basis to prove it. This implies that adverts should not be designed against scientifically proven facts (Ad Standards, 2019).

Example of an advertisement that has broken some of the rules

In Quebec, there is an advert that broke some of these rules. The advert was in the form of a billboard. It was paid for by the “Friends of Science Society” and clearly stated, “The Sun is the Driver of Climate Change. Not you. Not Co2.” This advertisement broke the code clause which prohibits advertisements that imply to have a scientific basis that they do not possess and the code for clarity and accuracy. This is because the advert did not clearly state how Sun and CO2 are the greatest drivers of climate change. The advert has also tried to imply that they possess scientific knowledge that they do not and this is through contradicting the scientifically proven fact that human beings and agriculture are the greatest contributors to climate change (Krashinsky, 2018)

Suggestion on how to improve this advert

To improve this advertisement, the “Friends of Science Society” should clearly state in their advert why the Sun is the main cause of climate change and provide authenticated scientific proof that this information is real.

Conclusion

Advertisements have a significant impact on consumers’ preferences for products and services. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the Canadian government to protect its citizens against false and misleading advertisements. The ASC is based on four pillars that include are ‘be clear,’ ‘tell the truth,’ ‘get consent’ and ‘play fair.’ When these four pillars are followed, most of the Canadian advertisements will be a reliable and genuine source of information about products and services in Canada.

References

Ad Standards. (2019). Advertisement Standards, Canada. Retrieved from https://adstandards.ca/code/the-code-online/

Gibson, S. (2014). Regulating Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs in the Digital Age. Laws, 3(3), 410–438. doi: 10.3390/laws3030410

Krashinsky, S. (2018, May 13). Ad watchdog warns against ‘disguised’ marketing attempts. Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/ad-watchdog-warns-against-disguised-marketing-attempts/article23617119/

Silva, A., Higgins, L.M., and Hussein, M. (2015). An Evaluation of the Effect of Child‐Directed Television Food Advertising Regulation in the United Kingdom. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue Canadienne d’agroeconomie, 63: 583-600. doi:10.1111/cjag.12078

Hearn, B. (2017). Canadian Advertising Marketing Law An Overview Of The Rules The Regulators And Their Powers. Retrieved from http://www.mondaq.com/canada/x/568494/advertising marketing branding/