A recent CBC Marketplace episode called out EasyFinancial for high-interest loans and questionable business tactics. The loan company wouldn’t agree to be interviewed, but bought advertising on the show, a move that could be more damaging than facing the heat on camera.
“I think it puts [EasyFinancial] in a bad light because they’re not responding to the criticism,” said Martin Waxman, president of Martin Waxman Communications. “They are strictly saying, ‘hey, buy more stuff from us.’ As a result, they could be seen to be preying on more people. So I don’t think it’s great for their reputation.”
Waxman said it’s a company’s prerogative to respond or not respond to media. “But unless they do, they don’t have the opportunity to tell their side of the story and then let people decide.”
Daniel Tisch, president and CEO of Argyle Communications, said as a rule of thumb, advertising is better at building brands than reputations, and it rarely fosters credibility.
“Advertising can play a role in communication on an issue, but it’s unlikely to move the metre,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to do that for [EasyFinancial] or for anyone is a combination of transparency and credible third-party endorsement. Sooner or later, if [EasyFinancial] really wants to challenge the reputation that’s emerging, they have to do it openly and transparently, and take some risks by subjecting themselves to inquiry by credible journalists.”
CBC also got some flak for running the ad, with commenters on social media expressing their disappointment in the broadcaster. One commenter on Marketplace’s Facebook page wrote: “I can’t believe that [Marketplace] would investigate a company that they claim are ripping off Canadians and then allow them to spend these very same dollars during the show they were being investigated on…”
Marketplace responded on Facebook that it was caught off guard by the ad. “The ad team operates independently from our editorial team, and we did not know that this had happened,” Marketplace wrote. “When we became aware, we had the ad pulled, so it only appeared in the first broadcast (the Atlantic feed). Apologies for what many people thought was a mixed message from us.”
Waxman said taking money from a company it is criticizing does damage to CBC’s credibility a bit. “All media companies need to have more internal communication so the left and the right hand know what they are doing,” he said.
But Tisch said part of him was kind of glad the editorial and advertising sides of CBC were not linked. “Certainly, the CBC doesn’t look good in accepting advertising revenue from the organization that they were critiquing and couldn’t interview,” said Tisch. “Having said that, one wouldn’t want to live in a society where there is absolutely no boundary between editorial and advertising.”
