How brands can communicate better under Bill C-59
By Amit Shilton and Masha Mikey, Senior Directors
Before their athletes even landed in Paris, Canada’s Olympic teams were already facing controversy. It wasn’t just the soccer program’s spying scandal on the field, but also allegations of greenwashing that Team Canada’s official outfitter Lululemon faced off the field.
Earlier this year, grassroots environmental organization Stand.earth filed a complaint with French regulators accusing the Vancouver-based apparel company of misleading green marketing under its “Be Planet” slogan.
The complaint alleged that Lululemon reported their “products and actions avoid environmental harm and contribute to restoring a healthy planet.” At the same time, the company’s impact report showed that from 2020 to 2022, its Scope 3 emissions (measuring indirect emissions that occur as a result of a company’s activities) nearly doubled.
Although this case is under French jurisdiction, it is one Canadian marketers should keep a close eye on. It is a good example of the increased scrutiny brand claims will face under Bill C-59, Canada’s new anti-greenwashing legislation.
Coming into effect in June 2025, the law mandates that companies substantiate their environmental claims with internationally recognized methodologies. Canada’s Competition Bureau, which enforces fair business practices, is currently seeking feedback on the new legislation with a consultation period open until September 27, 2024.
On the surface, regulatory changes might seem like a purely legal concern, but they’re really about how the public perceives a company. Brand reputation is closely tied to how well you follow regulations and act as a responsible corporate citizen. While compliance might not be the most glamorous aspect of business, it’s essential for building trust and credibility, which in turn strengthens brand image. High-profile examples like Volkswagen’s emissions scandal illustrate the severe reputational damage that can result from non-compliance.
Being proactive in adhering to regulatory standards is not merely about dodging penalties. The real price in all of this is your reputation. With greenwashing in the spotlight, now is the time for Canadian businesses to prepare for heightened scrutiny of their environmental claims.
Why It Matters to Marketers
For Canadian companies, this legislation emphasizes the need for clear and substantiated environmental claims. The goal is to enhance transparency and protect consumers.
In a recent bulletin, the Competition Bureau provided additional guidance for companies when making environmental claims. At a high level, claims need to be assessed through the eyes of the consumer, and must be truthful, specific and adequately tested.
The bureau also warned that while well-intentioned, any environmental commitments about the future, such as claims about being carbon neutral by a certain date, need to be factual and not just aspirational.
The Bottom Line
Consumer expectations are higher than ever. With heightened awareness and education of environmental issues more common among consumers, they expect brands to genuinely commit to sustainability – not just sound like they are committing.
For marketers, that means openly conveying both progress and challenges in achieving sustainability goals. While it’s in our nature as brand stewards to lean towards the positive, consumers expect those environmental success stories to be as transparent as they are positive.
In reality, ensuring the accuracy of environmental claims is a demanding task. It requires time and a well set up process including thorough audits, ongoing monitoring and reassessment, and cross-team collaboration from internal stakeholders to environmental experts.
That is why the initial response to Bill C-59 saw some organizations scraping their websites entirely to avoid any legal ramifications.
But preparing for this new legislation doesn’t have to be as extreme.
A good first step is to set up a cross-functional sustainability core group to assess the current state of marketing materials and perform a review of all claims. It’s crucial that marketing and communications teams have a seat at the table from the get-go, both to action any changes and provide counsel.
Sustainability needs an internal champion, but an unbiased third-party can also share some much needed outside perspective. Agency partners with media analysis and competitive review of best practices can be invaluable to ensure sustainability doesn’t become an internal echo chamber.
The pressure on marketers is to get it all right, but the biggest challenge will be to avoid coming off picture-perfect. To stay credible, marketers need to embrace being in progress. Transparency means communicating both achievements and setbacks. While it may seem counter-intuitive, this helps build trust with consumers. Marketers should communicate this message clearly and ensure it is understood by internal decision-makers.
Lululemon had a window of opportunity, before this issue, to share its full journey including challenges it faced to reduce emissions. By being transparent about the complexities around its ongoing efforts, the brand could have demonstrated genuine commitment to the planet and built stronger consumer trust. Adopting this strategy would have positioned Lululemon as an imperfect but authentic sustainability leader, and avoided allegations of greenwashing.
Staying true to your core values and meeting stakeholder expectations is, of course, essential to a brand leader. For marketers and brands, this case also underscores the importance of integrating sustainability messaging into the core brand narrative. Don’t wait to be called out.
By refining public and external communication strategies, you can not only ensure legislative compliance but lead with true transparency, and build a relationship of trust with consumers and shareholders alike.
