Disclosure & Transparency Guidelines
While I would never endorse a business that I do not personally support, it is important that both collaborative businesses and readers alike understand our practices and views as a company. Not only because of the law—in Canada, The Competition Act prohibits misleading advertising and deceptive marketing practices, meaning material connections between brands and bloggers must be disclosed—but because it is more important to me that readers trust my writing.
To keep it short, below is the outline of how we collaborate with businesses.
Gifted Products
One of the most common press relations practices is to provide editors and bloggers with complementary products. While we welcome gifted products, by no means do we ensure that they will be included in our content—we do not offer exchanges of products for features. How we choose to use that which we are gifted remains entirely at our discretion. Products that have been gifted that are included in our content are always clearly disclosed. The products that are not used will be donated to a charity of our choosing at the end of every quarter.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate shopping links are used in our store, as well as in some posts in which we link to products. Whenever you click a link and make a purchase, we make a small commissions at no additional cost to you. We use the funds for website maintenance, editorial and creative fees.
Compensated Experiences & Brand Events
At times, we are lucky to be invited to take part in remarkable experiences, both in Toronto and outside, through travel. These opportunities come through brands or travel entities and are either complementary, or we are given compensation for. The companies gain the benefit of introducing members of the media to a product, service, destination or an establishment, with the hope being that the media will go on to share with their community. In our case, we do not guarantee that we will cover the experience. The only time we write about events or travel experiences is if we genuinely support them, and believe that our readers will enjoy learning about them. We will not agree to a partnership that requires coverage in exchange for experience.
Sponsored Content
Occasionally we will partner with brands to create sponsored content. This means the article will include information about our partners’ products or services. The disclosure of such a partnership is made clear in the post. Note that by no means does this alter or affect our opinion. We do not work with brands we do not support. Partnerships are evaluated through research and careful consideration. Sponsored content is the only time we guarantee coverage.
Social Media Hashtags & Designation
Paid sponsorships done in the form of posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are clearly disclosed with #ad at the end of the copy. Any of the posts relating to our partners will include #WLGpartner.