Canada’s advertising industry watchdog has ruled that an online advertisement from Prolife Alberta, which decried Canada’s “pro-death culture,” breached its code of advertising standards by playing upon fears and misleading viewers.
Ad Standards complaint and ruling
On June 20 of last year, Ad Standards received a complaint about a Facebook advertisement from Prolife Alberta, a group that describes itself as “committed to promoting pro-life public policy in Alberta.” The complainant described the ad as “deeply troubling” and “inappropriate.”
The advertisement shows an image of the Grim Reaper holding a scythe on a dark field under an overcast sky, with text asking, “HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH OF CANADA’S PRO-DEATH CULTURE? YES!”
The ad states: “Politicians are ‘PETRIFIED to speak out on abortion because they’re afraid they will lose their grip on power,’ and if they ‘don’t support it, they will be outcasts in their elite society circles.’”
Council majority finds ad excessive
Last October, an Ad Standards council made up of representatives from the advertising industry and the public adjudicated the complaint against the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
“A majority of council members found use of such deliberate messaging in the ad was excessive,” reads the ruling, posted online earlier this spring.
The ruling cites one council member who said the ad “goes far beyond what is acceptable” by implying politicians were akin to the Grim Reaper and actively killing unborn fetuses. The majority also found that references to politicians “losing their grip on power” suggested they were delusional or unfit for office.
A minority of council members concluded the ad did not rely on fear but instead accused politicians and supporters of favouring abortion.
Ad reach and Prolife Alberta response
The ad received between 16,000 and 19,000 impressions on Facebook and Instagram, according to Meta’s advertising library, and ran between March and December last year.
Prolife Alberta argued before the council that its ad was truthful, fair, and accurate, and that the Grim Reaper imagery was a symbolic metaphor that was not misleading. It argued politicians avoid debate on abortion for political reasons while citing the lack of laws restricting abortion and expanded access to medical assistance in dying (MAID).
In an email to Postmedia, Prolife Alberta executive director Richard Dur said his organization “categorically rejects” the decision.
“Ad Standards has no jurisdiction over political speech, and our ad was unmistakably political. It challenges politicians who refuse to discuss abortion and euthanasia openly – and clearly it struck a nerve,” he wrote. “Prolife Alberta will continue to speak plainly about these issues, whether or not an over-eager private regulator imagines it has the authority to police political expression.”
