436 - Can a television spot that has run in the United States run in Canada if it has been stripped of all branding and promotional claims, and edited to meet the requirements of a help-seeking ad?
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I’ll presume from the question that this relates to a prescription product. Canadian’s may have seen the U.S. branded ad. Canadians could therefore link the unbranded Canadian ad to the branded U.S. ad if it has a similar look and feel. This linkage could contravene the section C.01.044 of the Food and Drug Regulations. This might also be difficult to defend from an ethical perspective. We suggest creating an entirely different unbranded ad. Alternatively, you could consider running a Canadian branded ad (rather than a help seeking message) with the same look/feel as the branded U.S. ad BUT limited to name, price and quantity.
