Watchdog slams ad criticizing COVID border restrictions for comparing travellers to hostages
CBC
Canada's advertising watchdog has slammed a TV commercial paid for by a Florida man with a home on Vancouver Island for suggesting Canadians were held "hostage" by COVID-19-related restrictions that temporarily shut down the U.S. border.
In a recently published decision, Ad Standards Canada's complaints council said the ad — paid for by John Adams and friends — was "inaccurate, deceptive and misleading."
"Equating Canadians as hostages created a false general impression about the nature of the imposed restrictions," said the decision, which was posted on the council's website.
"The inaccuracy and images misled Canadians about the overall effectiveness of the vaccines as well as the travel restrictions put into place to minimize the spread of COVID-19 during a pandemic event."
Adams owns a property in Barkley Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island, where he used to spend up to five months each year — prior to the pandemic.
The retired magazine publisher launched his ad campaign on both sides of the border last spring before the loosening of restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers on the Canadian side, which was announced on June 21, 2021.
The U.S. didn't follow suit until early November, when fully vaccinated travellers were allowed to cross the border for non-essential purposes.
The ads included the statements "Free Your Hostages" and "saying the fully vaccinated can transmit COVID without showing us actual cases is not science or fact — it's fear."
Reached at his home in Florida, Adams said he doesn't have a problem with the council's findings, but points out that he went through a process with an agency that works with broadcasters to clear advertisements for Canadian television.
"I was kind of impressed, because I'd always heard that there was a lot of censorship about Canadian media, but when I went through this process with all these ads, I didn't find that to be the case," Adams said.
Adams said his campaign began by advocating for the rights of foreign nationals who own property in Canada, but soon moved into a plea to reunite families separated by the rules.
He only found out about the complaints this week. He said he was told six viewers had complained.
"I don't really have a problem with it. It again is an opinion. It's a freedom of speech thing, and I have no problem with freedom of speech at all," he told the CBC.
"I just think it would have been better to have been addressed in the ad going forward rather than after the fact. Because it is an opinion."
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