Advertising Disclosure, Law and Ethics
The law and ethics of creator advertising in Canada: the Competition Act and Ad Standards, disclosure of material connections, reviews and fake engagement, claim substantiation and greenwashing, health, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and finfluencer rules, Quebec's ban on advertising to children, CASL, privacy and contests, platform tools, AI and deepfakes, and a compliance workflow.
CRE-320 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 36 min
Offered by HSM University · Content Creation
This is the Canadian version of this course. See the American version.
What you'll learn
- Explain why advertising is regulated and distinguish the legal, self-regulatory and platform layers that govern sponsored content
- Apply the core advertising law of Canada or the United States, including the overall impression test, enforcement routes and penalties
- Determine when a material connection must be disclosed and judge whether a disclosure is clear and conspicuous
- Disclose correctly in hard cases, including affiliate links, gifts, trips, ambassadors, employees, live streams and multi-product content
- Identify prohibited review and testimonial practices, including fake reviews, sentiment-conditioned incentives and fake engagement
- Recognize express and implied claims and match each to the substantiation it requires, including green and origin claims
- Apply the additional rules for health products, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and financial promotions
- Protect children, teens and vulnerable adults through appropriate content, disclosures and deal choices
- Apply privacy, anti-spam and contest laws to newsletters, text clubs and giveaways
- Use platform branded-content tools correctly and follow platform rules on restricted categories, promotions and AI
- Evaluate edits, AI-generated content, virtual influencers and deepfakes against legal and ethical standards
- Build a compliance workflow and audit a creator's content using compliance rates and weighted scores
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 36 min total · final exam
- 1 Advertising law, ethics and the creator 31 min · quiz
- 2 Canadian advertising law: the Competition Act and Ad Standards 27 min · quiz
- 3 Disclosing material connections: the detailed rules 27 min · quiz
- 4 Disclosure in practice: affiliates, gifts and hard cases 27 min · quiz
- 5 Reviews, testimonials and fake engagement 31 min · quiz
- 6 Claims and substantiation: performance, green and origin claims 29 min · quiz
- 7 Regulated products: health, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and finance 27 min · quiz
- 8 Children, teens and vulnerable audiences 27 min · quiz
- 9 Privacy, email, texts and contests 27 min · quiz
- 10 Platform rules and branded-content tools 27 min · quiz
- 11 Ethics of influence: AI, virtual influencers, deepfakes and edits 27 min · quiz
- 12 Building a compliance workflow and capstone audit 29 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
The law and ethics of creator advertising in Canada: the Competition Act and Ad Standards, disclosure of material connections, reviews and fake engagement, claim substantiation and greenwashing, health, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and finfluencer rules, Quebec's ban on advertising to children, CASL, privacy and contests, platform tools, AI and deepfakes, and a compliance workflow.
Part of the Film & Photography stream, typically taken in year 3.