Story Archive

False Advertising

Drivers in Toronto, Ont., Canada, are seeing a new billboard advertising Walthan Funeral Home. The ad simply reads “Text and Drive” with the funeral home’s name. Outraged motorists are going to the advertiser’s web site to complain about the ad. “If you’re here, you’ve probably seen our ‘Text and Drive’ billboard,” the website says. “And if you have, you probably came to this website to tell us what horrible people we are for running an ad like that. And you’d be right. It is a horrible thing for a funeral home to do. But we’re not a funeral home.” Cieslok Media is behind the ad. “We’re just trying to get Canadians to stop texting and driving,” the website says, “which is projected to kill more people in Ontario this year than drinking and driving.” (MS/WCVB Boston) ...Which is why they didn’t put their phone number on the billboard.