Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
On Thursday night, drones lit up the sky above Toronto’s waterfront displaying a list of health-related questions in what turned out to be an ad campaign for a new President’s Choice AI-powered chatbot.
“Can Melatonin lose its effect?” read the display. “Do I really need 8 hours of sleep?”
“What are the symptoms of insomnia?” it asked, before displaying a QR code for the service.
The display, which began around 11 p.m. and lasted 15 minutes, advertised a free chat service, that PC Health, owned and operated by Loblaw Companies Limited, says uses Canadian clinical guidelines to provide a “convenient” way to ask health questions and get real-time information.
Not all residents thought the ad was convenient, however.
Videos of the ad near Fort York surfaced on social media, garnering a wide array of reactions. On Reddit, some users expressed disgust, with one replier saying “these need to be banned immediately.” Another said it obstructed their view while driving on the Gardiner Expressway.
“What dystopian hell are we in for now?” asked local urban planner Sean Galbraith on CBC Radio’s As It Happens Friday. “Do we not have enough advertising along the highways and such that we have to now pollute the night sky with more ads?”
As It Happens5:42Loblaw’s drone ads turn Toronto’s night sky into a ‘dystopian hell,’ says urban planner
Loblaw is facing backlash after it lit up the night sky over Toronto’s waterfront with a swarm of drones to advertise its new PC Health chatbot. Sean Galbraith, an urban planner and drone operator, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
Ad inspired by what ‘Canadians find themselves asking late at night’: company
Galbraith, who learned of the ad after the fact, called it “horrible” and even “ironic.”
“It being dynamic and having all that movement and being so large in the sky, it was a real problem,” Galbraith said. “It was maximally disruptive.”
“Are you having trouble sleeping with a drone show buzzing in the night sky?” he said.
In a statement to CBC Toronto, Loblaw Companies Limited said the drone show was inspired by “many questions Canadians find themselves asking late at night.”
“The drone show held in the downtown core was designed to illuminate those moments of uncertainty,” the company said. “Canadians have questions about their health and wellness and they’re looking for trusted answers.”
The company added all required permits were obtained.
Transport Canada told CBC News it regulates drones “based on the risk to aviation safety and the safety of people on the ground.”
“Higher-risk” activities may require a special flight operations certificate for a remotely piloted aircraft system (SFOC-RPAS), spokesperson Sau Sau Liu said in an emailed statement Friday.
The agency said it did issue such a certificate for the ad campaign, “however, due to privacy requirements, the department cannot provide the information contained in the SFOC-RPAS application.”
It also said it reviews all complaints and reports of drone violations to determine if an investigation is required, and that reports can be made through its online drone incident reporting tool.
Companies need to consider ‘boundaries’: resident
West-end local Jessica Matheson heard about the drone advertisement through social media.
“It definitely has a very dystopian vibe,” she told CBC Toronto.
Matheson says the product is intriguing at a time of shortage of health-care practitioners and long wait times. But the drone show itself wasn’t welcome, she said.
“This came out of nowhere. It was blatant advertising,” Matheson said. “This is just literally plastered where everyone can see and not everyone wants to engage in constant advertisement.”
Matheson says she hopes there will be more nuanced discussions about the use of drone shows as advertising.
“There still needs to be a relationship with people and how they want to view [a company’s] product,” Matheson said. “You should seriously consider the ways you are marketing to people and not overstepping boundaries.”
CBC Toronto has reached out to the city, Coun. Ausma Malik (Spadina-Fort York) and police for comment.
Meanwhile, Galbraith says the drone campaign is very different from billboard ads along Toronto’s waterfront because it wasn’t static and draws attention away from what one might be doing.
“It’s extremely tone-deaf on their part and really speaks poorly of what they think people in downtown Toronto should have to be subjected to,” he said.
