GOOSED BY FTC?
Site changes humane claims
Canada Goose has quietly stepped away from bold guarantees about the “ethical” treatment of animals it uses for its pricey outerwear, The Post has learned. The Toronto-based coat company — which for more than a year has faced a probe by the Federal Trade Commission over allegations of false advertising — has made sweeping changes to its Web site and other marketing materials about its animal-sourcing standards, documents show. Fixes include the sc rubbing scrubbin of promises that Canada Goose — which has long filled its $900 jackets with goose down and trims the hoods with coyote fur — uses only coyotes from over populated over pop areas where they attack “pets anand sometimes even people,” documents show. Canada Goose likewise removed from its site a promotional “down traceability” video. The segment, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had featured an ex-supplier whose workers were later caught on camera roughly grabbing geese by their necks, cramming them into cramped cages and even stepping on them as they piled up in corners trying to flee.
Canada Goose denies that the PETA video captured practices that “were a part of the Canada Goose supply chain,” saying the tape was “manufactured” by the animal rights group.
Nevertheless, PETA handed its video to the FTC in 2017 which, the group says, triggered the probe.
It’s unclear exactly when Canada Goose made the changes to its site, but a June 17 letter from the FTC to the coat maker shows that at least some of the walked-back claims helped close a probe into the company’s allegedly loosey-goosey advertising.
“We considered a number of factors, including the prompt corrective action taken by Canada Goose, such as removing the advertising claims at issue from the marketplace,” the FTC’s June 17 letter closing the probe said.
In a statement, Canada Goose said, “The changes to our website were not made at the behest of the FTC, and the FTC did not reach any conclusions regarding whether any prior statements were misleading. We are appalled by the gross mischaracterization of our long-standing ethical sourcing standards which have only strengthened over time and become more robust.”
In addition to removing claims that it uses coyotes only from overpopulated areas in the Northwest US and Canada where they’re considered “pests,” Canada Goose has scrubbed the word “ensure” when speaking of its “ethical sourcing” of animal parts, instead saying it has a “commitment” to the practice.