Archive for the 'Marketing' Category
February 27, 2020
In my new Canadian Lawyer Column, I take a bit of a light-hearted tiptoe through recent drip-pricing cases enforced by the Competition Bureau, including the announcement on February 13, 2020 that StubHub agreed to pay $1.3 million for allegedly violating the misleading advertising provisions of the Competition Act by failing to adequately disclose the full price of sports and entertainment tickets upfront. For my full column, see: here.
February 14, 2020
The Competition Bureau’s (Bureau) top priority for enforcement and advocacy is currently the digital economy (see, for example, here, here, here, here and here). And for online marketing practices, false or misleading prices, including drip-pricing (i.e., where additional fees for an online purchase are only disclosed later or at the end of the check-out process), is top of its list.
January 24, 2020
In an interesting speech on January 22, 2020 by the Deputy Commissioner of Competition, Deceptive Marketing Practices Directorate, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) outlined its current digital marketing enforcement priorities (see: Honest Advertising in the Digital Age).
January 17, 2020
In an interesting and rather novel case, the Competition Bureau (Bureau) is reportedly investigating whether three major Canadian political parties (the Liberal, Conservative and NDP parties) violated the Competition Act in relation to their collection and use of Canadians’ personal information.
January 12, 2020
Over the past several years, competition enforcement agencies have been increasing their scrutiny of false and misleading influencer marketing. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initially led the charge in terms of guidance and enforcement, which included its Endorsement Guides, Endorsement Guides FAQs and warning letters to brands and influencers to improve their social media endorsement disclosures. This was accompanied by enforcement in some cases.
January 1, 2020
Practical Law Canada has published a New Legal Update, which discusses the Competition Bureau’s new guidelines for influencer advertising. While the Bureau’s new guidelines largely reiterate previous guidance provided by the Bureau, its announcement also suggests increasing scrutiny on not only influencers that fail to comply with the Competition Act, but also brands and agencies. In this regard, the Bureau issued close to 100 letters to brands and marketing agencies advising them to comply with the Competition Act. Below is an excerpt with a link to the full Legal Update at Practical Law.
January 1, 2020
Competition law (or “antitrust law” as it is referred to in the United States) generally includes a range of local and federal legislation, case law and enforcement agency policies that restrict in part free markets aimed at preventing or regulating activities that prevent or substantially impact competition. In general, Canadian and international competition/antitrust laws are focused on protecting competition and not individual competitors.
September 10, 2019
In my new Canadian Lawyer column, I take a look at two recent U.K. ASA advertising decisions with potential implications for Canada. Below is an excerpt with a link to my column.
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In an interesting development, two ads were recently banned under new gender stereotyping in advertising rules recently implemented by the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA, the U.K.’s member-based independent advertising regulator, introduced its new gender stereotyping advertising rules in June after consultations with industry and a report entitled Depictions, Perceptions and Harm. The ASA’s new rule, which applies to all broadcast and non-broadcast media, including online claims and social media, prohibits gender stereotypes in advertising “that are likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence.”
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
