The owner of a Christian bookstore in Charlottetown says he can't understand why the CBC is refusing to air his television ad.
'The fact that it was linked to our store somehow made the ad not presentable.'— Roger May, bookstore owner
This fall, the CBC turned down an ad for Maritime Christian Bookstore, saying it violated the corporation's policy on religious advertising. The ad shows two small children fussing in the back seat of a car during a stressful trip. They settle down when their parents play a talking-book CD from the bookstore.
CBC refused to air the ad because it ended with the line, "What goes into the mind comes out in a life."
Roger May, owner of Maritime Christian Bookstore, told CBC News on Friday he can't understand how that line is pushing religion of any sort.
"It's not specific to the Christian religion. I mean, it's just a general statement that you may or may not agree with," said May.
"I don't know why you would disagree with it. The fact that it was linked to our store somehow made the ad not presentable."
Jeff Keay of CBC said the ad violated the corporation's policy against religious-based advertising. That policy says religious organizations can't proselytize or promote religious ideologies or doctrines.
"In our evaluation of it in the overall context of the ad, there was a religious component to it," said Keay.
"It was the fact that it was a Christian bookstore, and it was sort of making a sort of a value statement. I think on either of those two counts, we didn't have a particular problem, but with both of them together in the overall context, we saw that as religious content, and therefore inconsistent with our advertising policy."
Keay said the corporation has replaced the ad with a different commercial, for the same business.
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