🍁 “Maple Washing” and the Pitfalls of Patriotic Branding
Sept 25, 2025
In a Sept. 15 op-ed, Sylvain Charlebois warned that the Buy Canadian movement risks losing credibility if brands rely on symbols instead of substance. Charlebois highlights how “maple washing” is spreading: maple leaves on imported oranges and almonds, or packaged foods assembled in Canada with foreign ingredients.
The piece specifically criticizes hollow gimmicks, like Subway Canada’s “Ditch the Inch” campaign that swapped inches for centimetres, as trivializing serious issues. For Charlebois, authentic Buy Canadian branding means transparency about sourcing, support for Canadian farmers and processors (including Indigenous food systems), and commitment to ethical, sustainable supply chains. Without that, he argues that the patriotic gloss risks alienating the very consumers it seeks to rally.
Our Take
We obviously agree wholeheartedly - the entire goal of The CANADA List is to increase awareness and transparency of brand ownership/manufacturing/sourcing attributes. Indeed, were product labels transparent and obvious, The CANADA List wouldn't even be necessary.
As we know, consumers are pushing back, exposing misleading packaging on social media. That said, many other shoppers are likely being legitimately fooled by the patriotic packaging. It's thus important that labelling laws be reconsidered, to ensure that accurate, transparent information exists on all product labels. We wrote a blog piece on this not too long ago that interested readers may want to consider: How to Fix the Label.
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