Archive for the 'Marketing' Category
May 28, 2013
An interesting performance claims advertising claims case caught my eye today in my daily media sweep. According to the CBC, HuffPost and others, Kellogg has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a class action lawsuit relating to some of its former marketing claims for Frosted Mini-Wheats.
May 16, 2013
There used to be a saying that nothing in life is free. In Australia, it seems, there are no free TVs, or at least not that many. In a curious case posted by the Australian ACCC earlier today (or was that yesterday?), it announced that it had settled an allegedly false free TV promotional offer with Australian cable company FOXTEL.
April 30, 2013
As previously announced, the Ontario Government has now introduced for first reading new proposed legislation for wireless contracts and services in Ontario (Bill 60 – An Act to strengthen consumer protection with respect to consumer agreements relating to wireless services accessed from a cellular phone, smart phone or any other similar mobile device).
April 24, 2013
The British Columbia Real Estate Council issued its new Report from Council Newsletter, which includes a summary of the new and updated advertising requirements for British Columbia real estate licensees (see: here).
April 11, 2013
In recent news that may serve as a cautionary tale for telemarketers, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recently announced that Comwave Telenetworks Inc. has paid a $100,000 penalty as part of a settlement for telemarketing practices involving the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) rules (which are a subset of the CRTC’s Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules).
March 29, 2013
CANADIAN CONTEST RULES/PRECEDENTS
Do you need contest rules and forms for a Canadian contest/sweepstakes? I offer a selection of Canadian contest rules and forms for random draw, skill and other common types of Canadian contests (i.e., contest precedents and forms). For more information see Canadian Contest Forms/Precedents.
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Want to win a house for $100? That’s exactly what one Ontario couple offered recently as a prize through a contest they came up with after watching the movie Spitfire Grill, where the main character holds a contest to give away her diner (see: Aylmer Couple Holds Essay Contest to Sell Country Home for $100).
March 19, 2013
Competition/antitrust enforcement agencies in both the U.S. and Canada have been increasing their focus on new media advertising/marketing practices, notably in the mobile space.
In Canada, recent cases and initiatives include the ongoing challenge by the Competition Bureau of Bell/Rogers/Telus for allegedly misleading premium text claims, statements by the Interim Commissioner of Competition that one of the Bureau’s advocacy priorities includes the digital economy and Federal Government and regulatory (CRTC) initiatives to spur increased wireless competition.
In the midst of these Canadian developments, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has as well recently been increasing its focus on the digital economy, which has updated “Dot Com Disclosures” and a new video several days ago with advertising and privacy law tips for mobile app developers (see: FTC Staff Revises Online Advertising Disclosure Guidelines and FTC Announces Video With Tips for Mobile App Developers).
In Canada, the equivalent to the FTC’s new Dot Com Disclosures are the Competition Bureau’s Internet Advertising Guidelines (Application of the Competition Act to Representations on the Internet), which was last updated back in 2009 (though has not been substantially updated in some years).
The FTC’s new guidance for mobile and other online advertisers, which updates its Dot Com Disclosures released back in 2000, not only explains how advertisers can make sure their products and services are described truthfully online, but more specifically takes smart phone and social media marketing into account.
The FTC’s new .com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising provides a number of best practices for disclosures in mobile ads and highlights the need for advertisers to make those disclosures clear and conspicuous.
Some of the FTC’s tips, many (if not most) of which are also applicable in Canada, include:
Place disclosures [i.e., disclaimers as we call them in Canada] close to claims they qualify in an online ad: Consumers using devices with small screens may miss disclosure hyperlinks that are separated from a claim by text or graphics, so advertisers should be sure to place the link near the relevant information. This is good advice for conventional advertising, and particularly important guidance for advertising using new media (including for Canadian advertisers/marketers).
March 13, 2013
Earlier today, the C.D. Howe Institute published a new report on the Canadian dairy industry, dairy regulation and competition entitled: Putting the Market Back in Dairy Marketing. This new report, authored by Colin Busby and Daniel Schwanen, makes recommendations for reform of Canada’s dairy supply management system. Abstract:
“Canada’s controversial but politically untouchable dairy supply management system can be reformed, while addressing the concerns of wary politicians, consumers tired of overpaying for milk and cheese, and farmers worried about their future. In ‘Putting the Market Back in Dairy Marketing,’ authors Colin Busby and Daniel Schwanen call for better representation of consumer interests in milk marketing decisions, a cap on milk prices, and steps to measure efficiency and open new markets for dairy farmers.”
The overall conclusion of this new report is that achieving the Canadian Dairy Commission’s legislated objectives requires fewer constraints on the production and trade of milk and dairy products, which the authors argue impose significant and unnecessary costs on Canadian consumers (and also raise potential longer-term viability issues for the industry).
Based on this conclusion, the report makes the following recommendations: (i) changing the membership of the CDC board of directors to ensure consumer and industrial users’ interests are represented in decision-making, consistent with the regulatory set-up in many other industries; (ii) capping prices for milk set by the CDC, until a reasonable benchmark is reached for an “efficient farm,” using national and international comparisons; and (iii) restoring to the federal government the powers over export and interprovincial trade that it delegated to the provinces so that interprovincial trade can expand, and efficient farmers who wish to operate entirely outside of the quota system may export outside of Canada.
This report comes also as the Canadian Competition Bureau appears to also be renewing its interest in advocacy in regulated sectors (i.e., areas in which the Bureau may not have direct enforcement powers).
For example, in one recent speech by the Interim Commissioner of Competition John Pecman, the Interim Commissioner confirmed that the Bureau is interested in “incrementally increasing” its competition advocacy efforts (in addition to enforcement) in key industries including the digital economy and retail and health sectors. The Interim Commissioner also set out the following four factors the Bureau would consider in deciding whether to initiate regulatory interventions in particular sectors: (i) whether a forum exists and there is a high level of public interest, (ii) whether the Bureau would be contributing in a useful way (e.g., bringing forward unique arguments), (iii) being able to gauge the impact of advocacy efforts, and (iv) clear, tangible benefits for Canadians.
De-regulation, and increased clarity on competition law safe harbours from enforcement, such as the “regulated conduct defence”, have also been topics of increased recent debate and other reports – for example, the C.D. Howe’s November 2012 report: Closing the Back Door Route to Cartels: The Need to Clarify the Regulated Conduct Doctrine.
For a copy of this new C.D. Howe report on the dairy industry see: Putting the Market Back in Dairy Marketing.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
