B.C. company apologizes for '51st state' reference in ad following online outrage

A Richmond, B.C., company has apologized after an advertisement in a transit station drew online flak for its reference to the "51st state" amid public annexation threats by the U.S. president.

Vitamin company Herbaland's ad was featured at the Vancouver City Centre SkyTrain station. The mural displayed a selection of the company's products set against a maple leaf and large text that read, "Herbaland proudly made in (the 51st state) Canada." In it, "(the 51st state)" is crossed out in white.

Herbaland's vitamin gummies are made in Richmond, a Metro Vancouver suburb, and its website bills itself as Canada's largest nutritional gummy producer.

The ad was taken down Wednesday after online commenters called it "completely unacceptable, even as a joke", and a marketing professor described the furor as a lesson in timing and tone for companies.

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Polls show that 90 per cent of people in Canada have no interest in being a part of President Donald Trump’s threatened 51st state, but what about the rest? CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe sets out to understand why the other 10 per cent want to be a part of the U.S.

The ad comes at a time when Canadian businesses are asserting their identity amid U.S. President Donald Trump's public threats to annex Canada and make it the 51st state.

However, online commenters said Herbaland's ad was not "reading the room," prompting the company to apologize. In a statement, it said it does not support the idea of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.

WATCH | SkyTrain station ad sparks online backlash: 

Company apologizes after controversial '51st state' ad at SkyTrain station sparks backlash

3 days ago

Duration 1:59

A local herbal supplement company is facing intense online backlash after an ad at a SkyTrain station referenced Donald Trump’s repeated comments about Canada becoming the 51st State. The mural, which said, "Herbaland proudly made in (the 51st state) Canada," with the 51st state crossed out, was quickly criticized. The company has since issued an apology for the ad, which many viewed as insensitive.

"Our goal with this mural was to take a stand against the idea of being the 51st state, which is why we crossed it out, but we can see that even mentioning this notion, even to disagree with it, is in poor taste," the apology read.

"We fully believe in Canada's independence and unique identity."

Some passersby at Vancouver City Centre station on Tuesday morning were less critical of the advertisement than the online commenters.

"I think it looks bold, but it also is a little bit cheeky with the cross out," said Roxanne Tayler. "Like, it's addressing it without being in a negative kind of way."

However, Joanne McNeish, an associate professor of marketing at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the online outrage showed the tone of the ad was off.

The professor said the advertisement comes at a time when Trump's tariffs are making life more tangibly difficult for people, and that his erratic behaviour is being taken very seriously, not as joke material.

"[There's] nothing wrong with saying we're a great Canadian company," she told CBC News. "The companies that have done this successfully have talked about their Canadianness, the length of their Canadianness, or what they're trying to do to be genuinely Canadian."

But in the case of Herbaland's wording, McNeish said it was, "Wrong time, wrong joke."