Korea Communications Standards Commission Visit

In July, Ad Standards hosted representatives from the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC). Ad Standards shared information about the Canadian advertising industry and regulatory environment, as well as our organization's function, purpose, structure, and impact.

In July, Ad Standards introduced a new Interpretation Guideline (#6) to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards ( Code ), which provides clarity on the scope of government, political and election advertising as defined under the Code. This was released in conjunction with an updated Advisory Regarding Political and Election Advertising .

Minor revisions were also applied to the Code itself. The changes reflect the discontinuation of the Special Interest Group Procedure and our name change to Ad Standards. See the updated Code .

Cannabis Products

Now that the sale of recreational cannabis is legal in Canada, you may see advertising for cannabis products and cannabis related products and services. Please note that this activity is regulated by Health Canada under the Cannabis Act. Any questions, comments, or complaints should be directed to Health Canada at:  [email protected]

Vaping Products

The regulation of vaping products (with or without nicotine) in Canada also falls under the mandate of Health Canada, through the provisions of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act or the Food and Drugs Act. Questions or complaints about advertising of such products should be directed to Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Directorate at:  https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/contact-us/tobacco-control-programme.html

We are happy to announce that Marion Perchoc has joined the Ad Standards Clearance Services team!

As a new analyst, her primary focus will be the Consumer Health Product sector. Marion received her Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Paris Sud XI and comes to Ad Standards from Janssen Inc, where she worked as a Bilingual Drug Safety Coordinator.

Rupa Bahri

Vice President and General Manager, GSK Canada Consumer Healthcare

Rupa was appointed to the role of Vice President and General Manager, GSK Consumer Healthcare (CH) in February of 2018 and is responsible for all CH operations for GSK in Canada. As of last week, following the GSK CH and Pfizer CH joint venture deal close on August 1, 2019, Rupa now has oversight for the new Consumer Healthcare business as the Canadian General Manager.

Rupa joined GSK in 2015 as part of the Novartis-GSK CH joint venture and led the business turnaround of the Digestive Health Portfolio in the US. Prior to joining GSK, she led sales and marketing for the Venture brands at Novartis, delivering significant growth on a mature portfolio. Previously, Rupa held commercial leadership and strategic business roles at McKinsey & Company and Medtronic, Inc.

Rupa is an active member of trade organizations, currently serving on the Consumer Health Products Canada Board.

She holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University, an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a MS in Health Sciences & Technology from the Harvard Medical School.

Marina Seidl

Senior Counsel, RBC Law Group, Royal Bank of Canada

Marina is Senior Counsel at Royal Bank of Canada and advises on marketing and advertising matters, corporate sponsorships, athlete and celebrity endorsements, influencer contracts, contests and scholarship initiatives. In her previous role at RBC, Marina was legal advisor to the Bank on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and prior to joining RBC she practiced general corporate/commercial law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Marina holds a joint J.D./MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School and Schulich School of Business, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Commerce from the University of Toronto and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 2001.

Official Representative: Vincent Dong, Founder

Ad-Vice Software & Consulting Inc. has been serving marketing and communications agencies exclusively for over 30 years. Ad-Vice offers financial and project management consulting services to marketing agencies. Ad-Vice specializes in several agency specific software systems, and assists clients in implementations and proper utilization to receive optimal results.

Official Representative: Judy Lewis, Co-founder and Partner

The Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms (CCPRF) is a national organization of leading public relations consulting firms operating in Canada. The CCPRF is dedicated to promoting the role of public relations in business strategy and organizational development and performance.

Official Representative: James Rubec, Director of Content and Licensing Marketing

Cision is a global media intelligence company, offering comprehensive PR, IR and social media software, rich analytics, content distribution, and influencer outreach. Cision solutions include PR Newswire, Gorkana, PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact brands. Headquartered in Chicago, Cision serves over 100,000 customers in 170 countries and 40 languages worldwide.

Official Representative: Kathryn LeSueur, Director, Advertising and Marketing Services for Government Communications and Public Engagement (GCPE) 

GCPE administers Standing Offers for advertising services that apply to all ministries. GCPE has entered into an agreement with Ad Standards that requires B.C. government informational advertising be reviewed against non-partisan advertising criteria before it is released.

Official Representative: Judy Lewis, Co-founder and Partner

Headquartered in Toronto, with associates across the country, Strategic Objectives helps their brand clients build positive awareness and drive sales through integrated marketing and communications strategies using mainstream, social media and influencer relations; to paid, earned, owned and shared digital content marketing; and real life special events and experiential activations. Strategic Objectives staff have been key contributors in the development of the Influencer Disclosure Guidelines.

Members of the Standards team will be holding seminars to help industry members better understand how the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards is applied, show how to navigate the Consumer Complaints Procedure , and provide insights on the Advertising Dispute Procedure . Sessions will be held on Wednesday, October 9, in Toronto, and Wednesday, October 16, in Montreal. More information coming soon at adstandards.ca/events .

Hosted by the ICA, the 2019 Effie Canada Effectiveness Day celebrates the stories of the first-ever Effie Canada winners. Hear from Facebook and the people behind the Effie Canada gold-winning campaigns about creating truly effective marketing.

Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/effectiveness-day-2019-toronto-tickets-69772091203

We encourage Ad Standards members to use our specially designed Membership Logo in their communications materials. Using this logo is an easy way to enhance consumer trust in your ads, as our Consumer Research indicated that a majority of Canadians (84%) are more likely to trust advertisements from Ad Standards members.

Contact Randy Sageman for access to the logo.