Canada Goose revises advertising after Peta complaint to the FTC
Canada Goose, a Toronto-based apparel company, has removed some ethical sourcing claims and other controversial content from its website after receiving pressure from an FTC investigation.
Canada Goose revises false advertising after Peta’s complaint to the FTC
The complaint came to counter the ethical claims from the brand who highlighted the practice of slaughtering geese while conscious and is a universal practice in the industry, according to Peta, which also claimed it was the method behind supplying materials for many of the hats, coats and vests produced by Canada Goose. The subsequent FTC investigation has forced the company to be more honest about its practices.
The investigation has told Canada Goose to remove statements from its website saying that it's standards “ensure” its sources don’t abuse animals. "Canada Goose has no right to claim transparency while concealing from customers that its standards are so lax that they would allow coyotes with lacerations and broken bones to languish in traps for days before trappers shoot them to death," said PETA executive vice-president Tracy Reiman.
"Peta urges shoppers to look behind Canada Goose's humane-washing and see the suffering in the stitches of its coats."
Canada Goose also took down a "down traceability" video that features a former supplier whose workers were caught in a Peta video herding the geese into piles where some suffocated, stepping on the panicked birds, carrying their heavy bodies by their necks and shoving them into densely packed cages.
The unethical practices aren’t exclusive to the down industry, however. Canada Goose’s clothing uses fur from coyotes who can legally be trapped for up to 72 hours with broken bones, lacerations or hemorrhages before trappers return and bludgeon or shoot them to death.
While the company has changed the wording of some of the claims on its website,
Canada Goose’s front page still reads, “We are deeply committed to the ethical sourcing and responsible use of all materials in our products.”
According to the Canda Goose website: "We believe all animals are entitled to humane treatment in life and death, and we are deeply committed to the ethical sourcing and responsible use of all animal materials in our products. We do not condone any willful mistreatment, neglect, or acts that maliciously cause animals undue suffering. Our standards for the sourcing and use of fur, down and wool reflect our commitment that materials are sourced from animals that are not subject to willful mistreatment or undue harm."
The development in the firm’s advertising comes as it's stock price dipped during the first quarter of 2019, leaving it down from the price one year ago.