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

1 month_ago 15

British Columbia·New

A Richmond, B.C., institution has apologized aft an advertizing mural successful a transit presumption drew online flak for its notation to the "51st state" amid nationalist annexation threats by the U.S. president.

Vitamin institution Herbaland took down the advertisement astatine the Vancouver City Centre SkyTrain presumption connected Wednesday

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

An advertizing mural that says 'Herbaland proudly made successful (the 51st state) Canada.' The '51st state' information is crossed retired successful white. A janitor cleans the level adjacent to the mural.

A Richmond, B.C., institution has apologized aft an advertisement successful a transit presumption drew online flak for its notation to the "51st state" amid nationalist annexation threats by the U.S. president.

Vitamin institution Herbaland's advertisement was featured astatine the Vancouver City Centre SkyTrain station. The mural displayed a enactment of the company's products acceptable against a maple leafage and ample substance that read, "Herbaland proudly made successful (the 51st state) Canada." In it, "(the 51st state)" is crossed retired successful white.

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

The advertisement was taken down Wednesday aft online commenters called it "completely unacceptable, adjacent arsenic a joke", and a selling prof described the furor as a acquisition successful timing and code for companies.

WATCH | 9 successful 10 Canadians don't privation to beryllium the 51st state:

90% of Canadians don’t privation to beryllium a 51st state. What’s up with the rest?

Polls amusement that 90 per cent of radical successful Canada person nary involvement successful being a portion of President Donald Trump’s threatened 51st state, but what astir the rest? CBC’s Lyndsay Duncombe sets retired to recognize wherefore the different 10 per cent privation to beryllium a portion of the U.S.

The advertisement comes astatine a clip erstwhile Canadian businesses are asserting their individuality amid U.S. President Donald Trump's nationalist threats to annex Canada and marque it the 51st state.

However, online commenters said Herbaland's advertisement was not "reading the room," prompting the institution to apologize. In a statement, it said it does not enactment the thought of Canada becoming the 51st U.S. state.

WATCH | SkyTrain presumption advertisement sparks online backlash:

Company apologizes aft arguable '51st state' advertisement astatine SkyTrain presumption sparks backlash

A section herbal supplement institution is facing aggravated online backlash aft an advertisement astatine a SkyTrain presumption referenced Donald Trump’s repeated comments astir Canada becoming the 51st State. The mural, which said, "Herbaland proudly made successful (the 51st state) Canada," with the 51st authorities crossed out, was rapidly criticized. The institution has since issued an apology for the ad, which galore viewed arsenic insensitive.

"Our extremity with this mural was to instrumentality a basal against the thought of being the 51st state, which is wherefore we crossed it out, but we tin spot that adjacent mentioning this notion, adjacent to disagree with it, is successful mediocre taste," the apology read.

"We afloat judge successful Canada's independency and unsocial identity."

A pistillate with blond hairsbreadth smiles adjacent to a greenish advertizing mural.

Some passersby astatine Vancouver City Centre presumption connected Tuesday greeting were little captious of the advertisement than the online commenters.

"I deliberation it looks bold, but it besides is simply a small spot cheeky with the transverse out," said Roxanne Tayler. "Like, it's addressing it without being successful a antagonistic benignant of way."

However, Joanne McNeish, an subordinate prof of selling astatine Toronto Metropolitan University, said the online outrage showed the code of the advertisement was off.

The prof said the advertisement comes astatine a clip erstwhile Trump's tariffs are making beingness much tangibly hard for people, and that his erratic behaviour is being taken precise seriously, not arsenic gag material.

"[There's] thing incorrect with saying we're a large Canadian company," she told CBC News. "The companies that person done this successfully person talked astir their Canadianness, the magnitude of their Canadianness, oregon what they're trying to bash to beryllium genuinely Canadian."

But successful the lawsuit of Herbaland's wording, McNeish said it was, "Wrong time, incorrect joke."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akshay Kulkarni is an award-winning writer who has worked astatine CBC British Columbia since 2021. Based successful Vancouver, helium is astir funny successful data-driven stories. You tin email him astatine [email protected].