This article I found about anti-littering campaign in Toronto caught my eye because I wouldn’t expect Canadians to be against environmentally-friendly campaigns. However as I read through it, it became clear that it is the companies that were used in the campaign that were against the use of their brand names in this negative connotation. It is completely understandable, as no respectful firm would want their products to be looked at as litter and the government supported it.

Nonetheless, looking at this issue from a marketing perspective, the campaign leaders could have advertised it to these companies as being a part of creating a cleaner environment in Toronto and therefore the firms could take advantage of this to enforce their social responsibility in the name of their brand. This in turn would eliminate the “damaging effect on their trademarks”, and would do quite the opposite.

Based on the article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/toronto-ads-crossed-the-line-with-depiction-of-prominent-brands/article20379559/