TORONTO 鈥� The American owners of a Canadian hardware store chain say they鈥檙e disappointed that they will no longer be able to call Rona stores 鈥淭ruly Canadian鈥� or 鈥淧roudly Canadian.鈥�
Ad Standards, the industry-led regulator that oversees the Canadian advertising sector, , meaning the retailer can no longer use them. They had been displayed in large letters on the outside of a number of Rona stores.
Rona was Canadian-owned until 2016, when it was acquired by U.S.-based competitor Lowe鈥檚. Dozens of Rona stores were converted to the Lowe鈥檚 brand following the takeover, while 24 Rona stores and two Lowe鈥檚 stores were closed in 2018.
Two people complained to Ad Standards that the 鈥淭ruly Canadian鈥� and 鈥淧roudly Canadian鈥� taglines were inaccurate given the stores鈥� American ownership.
According to Ad Standards, Rona argued that it should be allowed to continue using the slogans because of 鈥渢he Canadian roots of Rona, its many Canadian connections, and the number of high-level employees in Rona鈥檚 Canadian operations who are Canadian.鈥�
The regulator鈥檚 standards council found that the 鈥淭ruly Canadian鈥� and 鈥淧roudly Canadian鈥� terms create the impression that the company is Canadian-owned and Canadian-controlled, neither of which are true. That finding was upheld at an appeal hearing.
The company says it 鈥渟trongly disagrees鈥� with the decision, noting that Rona鈥檚 head office is in Quebec and that all Rona stores are in Canada, aside from one in St-Pierre-Miquelon.
A Lowe鈥檚 spokesperson told 麻豆影视 in a statement that the company will not appeal the decision further, as there is no higher body within Ad Standards.
With files from Mariam Matti
