Question 716
Hello, I'm looking for where to find guidance regarding regulations for executing a 'help seeking' DTC campaign for vaccines at the same time as a branded DTC vaccine campaign. Given the DTC nature, pre-clearance would likely be through ASC. I've reviewed the guidance from Health Canada at length and am well aware of the criteria for help seeking. My understanding is that the help seeking and branded campaigns must be different (ie: in colour, tag lines etc) and not linked in any way, but I'm unable to find specific direction. I'd like to be more clear on how the campaigns must be different, assuming they are not linked in anyway (visually or otherwise), and if/how they may be executed concurrently. ie: can a vaccine help seeking TV ad be on during the same time a vaccines DTC branded banner ad or social media campaign is running (again, assuming not linked in any way). Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Your assessment is correct in that help-seeking messages, which are reviewed as DTC information, cannot be linked to DTC branded advertising as this would render all content subject to advertising regulations. The key here is understanding how linkages are created. To assess this we consider a number of factors, including:
appearance (e.g. using branding colours or images) proximity (e.g. side by side presentation) sequence (e.g. a rep presenting unbranded disease information followed by branded product information) context (e.g. positioning a branded consumer banner ad on an unbranded disease information website) If any of these factors would create a link between the two campaigns, such as concurrent airing/viewing of the messages, it would violate the regulations.
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