I have long believed that Canada has truth in advertising laws, designed to protect consumers from spurious claims that otherwise would be issued by unscrupulous companies or other organizations. However, after considering some of the advertising I’ve encountered over the last few years, I’ve reached the conclusion that these laws have either been repealed, or the agency responsible for enforcing these laws has been eliminated. A few examples might help explain my conclusion:
1. I’m sure that most of us have been put on hold by an automated voice that assures us “please hold, we are doing everything possible to answer your call.” Everything possible? Sorry, I don’t buy this claim. If we can put astronauts on the moon, then surely we can answer a phone call. Here’s my obvious suggestion: just keep hiring people and installing new telephones until all calls can be answered. I think these companies need to tell us the truth, which is simply that “we are doing everything – except spending any money – to answer your call, and we are hoping you are patient enough to put up with this delay.” Truth in advertising – see – it really is so very easy.
2. My second example is one I refer to as “Fooled You Again.” Over the last number of months, I’ve received phone calls where the caller’s name is clearly identified, and these names are, to put it mildly, of real apparent interest. For example, a recent call indicated it was from “Trixie and Bubbles School for Exotic Dancers.” Intrigued, as you can imagine, I answered the call only to discover that it was actually from one of Canada’s main federal political parties, looking for a donation. This stunt is clearly not truthful, but even more important is the whole issue of a political party starting off by lying to me so it could then request that I donate money. The only thing I want to say to this party is that while you may think this is a smart stunt that puts you in contact with myself, you’ve probably noticed that you still haven’t received my cheque!
3. For any of you that have entered into an office or store that is under renovation, you’ve likely noticed the typical apology signs, which claim something to the effect of “excuse our mess, we are renovating in order to serve you better.” Now, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I’m having trouble with the claim that all this work is designed to serve me better. When I’ve gone back to these same stores, once the renovations are complete, I’ve been unable to see any improvement in the service I receive. I have seen renovations that are saving the company money, renovations that have reduced the number of staff required in the store, renovations that have forced me to utilize automated systems instead of talking to real people, and renovations designed to reduce shoplifting, or other criminal activity, but nothing that improved the service I received.
All three of the above examples share a disturbing philosophy – the company or organization involved seems to believe that consumers are stupid, and unable to discern the truth behind these various claims. This fact really compounds the problem: not only do we have organizations lying to us, but we then realize they are lying because they consider us too stupid to figure out the truth.
As for me, I’m waiting for the company who posts the sign “excuse our mess, we are renovating because we want to make more money.” Now, there’s a company I would be pleased to support.
Brian is a long time resident of St. Albert.
