Miss something this week? Don’t panic. CBC’s Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.
Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday.
Anyone who watches sports is used to seeing betting ads during games, but a collaboration between CBC’s Marketplace and British researchers at the University of Bristol found gambling messages fill up to 21 per cent of each broadcast, on average, based on an analysis that looked at seven games.
Marketplace asked the researchers to count the number of gambling messages viewers were exposed to — including betting company logos, commercials, sponsored segments and any time betting odds appeared on screen — during five NHL games and two NBA games broadcast live on television between Oct. 25 and Oct. 29.
An average hockey or basketball broadcast runs roughly three hours. The research team reviewed footage for all seven broadcasts, and also reviewed any available pre-game show, which usually ran about half an hour.
They tallied 3,537 gambling messages across all broadcasts, or about 2.8 every minute, totalling one-fifth of the viewing time.
“It’s shocking the amount of gambling-related messages that bombard the audience when they’re just trying to watch a game,” said Jamie Wheaton, who studies gambling at the University of Bristol and led the research on the NHL/NBA games with Raffaello Rossi.
Markus Giesler, a professor of marketing at York University in Toronto, reviewed the results and said he’s worried about how seamless the integration of sports and gambling has become.
“All of this is contributing to the normalization of gambling,” Giesler said. “Something that we conventionally think of as a very risky and a very dangerous practice [is framed] as something that’s actually just fun and harmless.”
We reached out to the leagues and broadcasters, but received no official comment from the NBA or NHL.
In a statement to Marketplace, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario said it has “significant advertising rules for igaming operators to ensure ad content is truthful and responsible” and added that “advertising has played a key role in addressing one of the government’s important goals, which is to shift gambling to regulated sites that meet high standards of player protection and block access to minors.” Read More.
You can watch the full Marketplace episode, where host Asha Tomlinson undergoes an MRI to see how game design impacts our brains during the highs and lows of gambling. That airs tonight at 8 p.m. (8:30 in N.L.) on CBC TV and CBC Gem.
A relaxing vacation in Cuba was what Jeff Phelps thought he was signing up for when he booked a 20th wedding anniversary trip with Sunwing.
That’s not what Phelps and his family got when they arrived at the Grand Memories Varadero, listed as a 4.5-star facility, during the holidays.
The family opened the door to the room and “the first thing that comes out at us is this cockroach,” Phelps said from Calgary, telling the story a week later.
“And it just gets worse from there. The toilet seat is missing, something has eaten the side of the bed.”
Eventually, they were moved to another room — with a toilet seat — but Phelps said the problems didn’t stop. Activities and buffets were closed, the alcohol they paid for in the room wasn’t there and the iron was missing.
Sunwing, in response, said it regularly reviews facilities and communicates with the destination partners to address issues that arise.
“Sunwing Vacations consistently shares feedback with our hotel partners from our reviews and insights gleaned from these various sources, including this customer’s, to ensure the best possible customer service and standards,” the company said in an emailed statement.
“We regret the customer’s vacation experience [at the] destination fell short of the standards we stand by at Sunwing.”
One travel agent is warning these issues are widespread at most major beach destinations, especially since the pandemic — and customers should try to apply extra layers of due diligence.
CBC News has reached out to other travel agencies that book with the resort and to the resort itself for comment, but has not received a response. Read More
Do you have a vacation nightmare? We want to hear about it. Write to us, marketplace@cbc.ca.
A gigantic tumbler that purportedly keeps drinks cold even if it’s left in your burning car is the stainless steel status symbol of the moment.
The 40 oz. Stanley Quencher H2.0 Flowstate tumbler (that’s 1.18 litres for us metric system folks) has become so popular that people are willing to wait outside Target stores overnight for the latest limited edition colours — cosmo pink and Target red for Valentine’s Day — while TikTok influencers can rack up huge view counts with their cup content.
But even if the cups themselves are built to last — an eco-friendly alternative, perhaps, to single-use cups and bottles — the very notion of a trendy water bottle gets in the way of sustainability, say advocates.
Consumer trends come and go. Sustainability experts warn many of today’s hot tumblers will eventually end up in a landfill just like their paper and plastic counterparts once this fad is over.
“The planet is on fire and all of our consumer habits definitely play a part in it,” said Aja Barber, a U.K.-based author who writes about how our buying habits affect us and the rest of the world.
Reusable beverage containers like the Stanley tumblers may be better than the disposable options in many ways, but Barber said you only need to own one or two of them.
“That’s not what’s happening with the Stanley cup phenomenon. People are becoming collectors and seeking them out,” she said, referencing videos on TikTok showing people lining up dozens of their Stanleys, as they’re commonly called.
Barber mentioned many of the people buying the tumblers likely had perfectly good reusable drink containers in their cupboards already — something social media critics of the craze have mocked.
Despite the company’s claim to manufacture Quencher H2.0 Flowstate tumblers with mostly recycled metal, Stanley doesn’t appear to offer any sort of take-back program or end-of-life recycling options for its products.
CBC News attempted to contact PMI Worldwide, Stanley’s parent company, but was unable to reach anyone with the company. Read More
Gasoline prices have helped to drive inflation up to 3.4%
The higher measurement comes after October and November held steady at 3.1%.
AI-powered disinformation is spreading — is Canada ready for the political impact?
The rise of deepfakes comes as billions of people around the world prepare to vote this year.
Meta offers Canadian Facebook users $51M to settle lawsuit in 4 provinces
The settlement still needs to be approved by a B.C. Supreme Court judge before users can see any settlement money.
Were you signed up for a bank product you don’t need — credit card, line of credit, mortgage protection or other products? Tell us all about it: marketplace@cbc.ca
Are you looking for the latest in business news? You’ll want to subscribe to this newsletter, too.
Mind Your Business is your weekly look at what’s happening in the worlds of economics, business and finance. Subscribe now.
Catch up on past episodes of Marketplace on CBC Gem.
