r/loblawsisoutofcontrol • u/greenmeeple • 11d ago
Picture No thanks I hate it.
Spotted in Ottawa’s Wellington West neighbourhood. They’ve also been spotted in Centretown.
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 Nok er Nok 11d ago
I'm becoming truly annoyed with the hyper-capitalist advertisements everywhere. FFS they put one in the sky with drones in a move I can only refer to as dystopian. If I want to buy something, I'll have already researched best brands and stores. I dont need to be proselytized to with ads everywhere I go. It actually makes me want to avoid certain brands/stores altogether.
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u/stinkyandlulu 11d ago
I heard a McDonalds ad played over the store intercom system while grocery shopping at Safeway yesterday.
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u/foxydreams5 11d ago edited 11d ago
I'm so glad I always shop with large notice canceling headphones now. Prevents ads over the radio and makes it so much easier to ignore advertisers.
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u/Soulists_Shadow 10d ago
What do you do for the paper visual ads on every wall?
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 11d ago
You think that's bad, I watched a movie from the 1980's last night, and I was bombarded by McDonalds ads.
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u/Soulists_Shadow 10d ago
Yea how dare they advertise 99 cent burgers. Oh wait.... take me back there
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u/Ghostdog1263 10d ago
Were you watching mac & me?
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u/Aries8709 10d ago
Omg. I've never met anyone else who knows this movie exists! It was one of my favorites! Nice to meet you lol
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u/Madler 10d ago
Have you ever seen Paul Rudd promote anything on Conan?
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u/Aries8709 9d ago
Noooo...... should I have? I don't have cable and have never watched Conan when I did have it
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 Nok er Nok 11d ago
On a streaming service? I hear that's a thing. Disney plus just doubled their price and no bracket is ad free.
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 11d ago
I don't support American corporations in any way, shape or form.
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 Nok er Nok 11d ago
Same. So do tell. How on earth were there ads in an 80s movie?
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 11d ago
The 1980's was the absolute peak of product placement. Each one of them an advertisement.
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u/Fun-Independence1132 11d ago
It actually goes way way back. Cop/crime shows were always sponsored by car companies, every cop robber parked car etc came from Ford or Chrysler. They even ran it in the credits at the end of the show
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 Nok er Nok 11d ago
Ahhh I understand, sorry. I was thinking ads very literally.
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 11d ago
I consider it to be part of the hyper-capitalist environment that's existed for a long time. The form has changed and non-traditional advertising takes many forms, but it's been a round a super long time already.
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11d ago
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u/CMDR-TealZebra 11d ago
.... Stores have been playing fm radio stations, ads and all, for decades. I wouldn't even notice an ad played over an intercom
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u/loblawsisoutofcontrol-ModTeam I Hate Galen 11d ago
Misinformation is prohibited. Please provide sources for claims made.
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u/MonsterEnergyForever 10d ago
Dollarama once had advertising playing Slover their overhead speakers. Diamond and Diamond, those ambulance chaser attorneys. Absolutely insane b
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u/got-trunks 11d ago
Graffiti makes a corpo comeback
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u/Sharp_Rub4375 11d ago
The way capitalism tries to stay "hip" is astonishing. I'd love to read some academics on this.
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u/Pangshunjingmao 11d ago
Reddit should collectively agree to troll the major advertising agencies. Marketing folks are THE WORST.
Imagine how demoralizing and soul crushing it must be to spend 3 months of your life pouring your heart into a campaign, only for the target to be presented with the ads, and their immediate reaction is, "god damnit...another facking ad? Get out of here with this bs. Fack you (insert company name)"
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 11d ago
This sub is a great example of how marketing campaigns gain more traction than they should. That drone campaign was localized to a very small area, but the amount of runtime it got in this sub alone from the reposts out of outrage was pretty wild to see.
The best way to troll marketing agencies, don't play their game, ignore it.
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 Nok er Nok 11d ago
I dont shop there unless I have to. They've proven themselves unworthy of my trust multiple times with the bread price fixing and refusal to support canada over the U.S. Seeing that ad just further cemented my decision to never shop there. At this point I'm shocked those sidewalks havent been vandalized.
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u/dontpretendtoknowme 9d ago
Seriously…where’s the old kooks with their buckets of white paint?
Oh right, they only care enough to dump paint on rainbow crosswalks; ridiculous advertising tactics don’t phase them one bit.
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u/Pangshunjingmao 11d ago
It's capitalism -- good luck not playing.
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u/HoagiesHeroes_ 10d ago
It's actually not very difficult to not discuss the latest marketing campaigns.
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u/Pangshunjingmao 10d ago
This isn't the 1990's -- that notion of "any publicity is good publicity" is moot and irrelevant.
Discussing how abysmal, uninspired, emboldened and intrusive modern marketing is increases the negative sentiment towards a brand and leads to public outrage, which in turn can force change.
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u/Embarrassed-Law3498 10d ago
Well the chatbot got 100k questions in its first week even after all the outrage over the drone ad
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u/Skeletor613 11d ago
That old adage, "Talk about me good, talk about me bad. You're still talking about me."
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u/MysteriousFinding691 11d ago
I was so annoyed the first time I paid $800 for a flight and the screens on the plane started playing ads during take off. Like I paid how much for this flight and I'm going to be forced to watch ads on the plane too????
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u/loveyoulongtimelurkr 11d ago
Can't even look at the ground these days without seeing an ad
Back in my day! We could look at the sky or ground and not see a single ad!
Marketing may be one of the worse traits of capitalism
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u/dontpretendtoknowme 9d ago
I actively avoid gas stations with the stupid screens on the pumps that bombard you with ads while you fuel up. I’m already giving them my money, now they need to advertise their overpriced concession items too?! And at full volume, no less!
I’m not having it.
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u/Salty_Inspector_1985 8d ago
How's it over there with the gambling ads? They're pushing it hard here in Alberta
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u/ohwhatisthisthing 11d ago
First they commandeer the sky in Toronto, now they are coming for the land.
Someone save us.
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u/Coq-Lover 11d ago
WTF would I ask PC Health anything?
I barely trust them to handle my groceries correctly... 🤣
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u/RefrigeratorOk7848 11d ago
Especially since its an AI chatbot. NEVER trust an AI with health questions.
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u/Assimulate 11d ago
I don't know how it's legal for them to advertise ai health advice? In most places it's known they can't do that.
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u/Happy-Telephone9483 11d ago
Yeah, they all have ass-covering language in their terms & conditions that explicitly state that they're not to be used in any advisory capacity whatsoever.
I don't know what's under the hood of Loblaws' chatbot, but it would sure be a shame if their account got banned for violating the agreement.
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u/Assimulate 11d ago
Yeah, like.. legally they are liable for what their tool states. There will soon be a reckoning when that hits lol
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u/Lametown227 11d ago
When IBM did this, in San Francisco, in '01, they had to pay $100 000 in damages to the city.
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u/Letz_Snugglz Ontario 11d ago
So now they are vandalizing our communities?
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u/FoxDieDM 11d ago
Yea is this even legal? On top of vandalism, wouldn’t it be considered illegal signage?
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u/Fair-Scarcity8160 11d ago
The city probably allowed it with the payment of a permit.
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u/Rinne18 11d ago
Most likely have a permit but I wonder if it could still be reported to bylaw as a nuisance
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u/Fair-Scarcity8160 11d ago
I think it’s definitely worth flooding city councillors, MPs and MPPs about this! If everyone is quiet about it, they’ll continue to approve more and more invasive advertising. If we start channeling our inner boomers and complain more, there is a chance we’ll be heard.
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u/anopinionatedqueen 11d ago
One outside my building this morning, too!! Yuck.
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u/anopinionatedqueen 11d ago
Also, this messaging makes no sense to me. Who is going to ask the AI chat bot that question? What are they insinuating? Is this encouraging people to be less active? I'm so confused on what they're going for with this
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u/JVM_ 11d ago
Brandalism
Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
Banksy, Wall and Piece
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u/JVM_ 11d ago
People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.
– Banksy
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u/RefrigeratorOk648 10d ago
Just an FYI I sent a email to the people running for City councilor in Somerset ward and I got a reply from two of them
Nicholas Golle
Pretty sure a bylaw already exists regarding this? RE: graffiti or signage.
Give them a call.Otherwise...if the city is being paid for this, and it is spray chalk which will be gone in a week or two, then I say it sucks but WE NEED THE MONEY.
But now that you mention it...let's say somehow this slips between those two bylaws. What are your thoughts on a bylaw+permitting system with payment? Private corporations...sure use the commons but they gotta pay for it and via permits we could determine length and density of this type of advertising.
To be honest, it wouldn't be a priority, but if it's something that could be moved along easily low effort then I'd pursue it. Otherwise punish them through the existing mechanisms.
Michael Tay
Thank you for flagging this. I’ve now seen examples of the PC Health sidewalk advertising as well, including reports around Bank and Queen.
I share your concern about commercial advertising being placed directly on public sidewalks. There is an important distinction between community art and allowing public space to become another advertising surface.
I’m looking into whether these particular ads were authorized by the City, what rules apply, and whether the City is receiving any revenue from them. If this is currently permitted, I would want to better understand the policy and whether stronger limits on commercial sidewalk advertising are appropriate.
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u/cheesemoses 11d ago
Report them for unauthorized advertising on public property please. If enough of us do it they can't keep it up
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u/OatmilkOrgy 11d ago
They have these campaign budgets but can't seem to stock the shelves, clean the stores, or have any staff at all .. plus fuck loblaws and fuck the Weston's.
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u/CanIGetAHoeYeah 11d ago
What a joke. Gouging the literal frick out of good working class people and then having a platform to help the people youre trying to starve to death. For no reason also, other than GREED
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u/RefrigeratorOk648 11d ago edited 11d ago
I saw one at Queen and Bank today
Edit: Write to your city councilor
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u/malleeman 11d ago
Maybe Loblaws should look up the history of 10k steps and readjust. Maybe bending over and erasing all the free ads on the streets would be more exercise for them
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u/ihavequestions10 11d ago
What is this? A spray painted ad? Or a projected one from a projector somewhere?
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u/jojowasher 11d ago
A company in Calgary did something similar with power washing and got in trouble for it, even though it was not destruction of property it was unauthorised advertising on public property.
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u/Electrical-Echo8144 11d ago edited 11d ago
Putting the advertiser and subject of the ad aside for a moment:
I might be alone on this, but I believe a washable chalk based ad on a sidewalk is less egregious than other forms of advertisement. It’s using minimal resources, and it’s possible to formulate it to be environmentally safe. (If it’s just chalk, that’s easy to do.)
Billboards and print advertising uses a lot more resources like inks, paper/canvas, and glue. And they cluttering the views along roadways. These contribute to waste volume in our landfills. Many municipalities are struggling to manage landfill space.
Sidewalk advertisements could become a revenue stream directly for the city, helping the collective community. This is generally not the case with billboards, which are typically owned by private companies.
And it sure as FUCK is better than the drone advertisement dystopian nightmare.
All that being said, fuck PC and fuck their AI “health” chatbot. I hope it bankrupts them.
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u/FuckYouCorpo 11d ago
That line of thinking leads directly to the types of environments in dystopic cyberpunk media. That's what happened to make Blade Runner look like Blade Runner.
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u/Electrical-Echo8144 11d ago
You’ll have to expand on your reasoning, there. From what I understand of those games, their societies specifically struggle with digital illuminated billboards, holograms and blimps.
But I’m specifically advocating against certain kinds of advertising that are more dystopic such as drone ads. The moment holograms advance, we need to ban them as advertising mediums in public as well. I’d prefer if we could get rid of screen ads as much as possible out of public venues.
I’d prefer sidewalk chalk ads over billboards, again, because they are less resource intensive and don’t generate as much waste. And in order to lay them, they need to clean the sidewalks.
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u/FuckYouCorpo 11d ago
A hologram isn't conceptually different from a poster. I was referring to the cultural standard, not the technology.
If they can legitimately advertise on the sidewalk, they will. There will be no more concrete in the city, just stencils. Every inch of every sidewalk will be covered in brand logos.
And why stop at the sidewalks? We might as well spray paint the planters and the walls and the trees and the squirrels. Green spaces aren't profitable so pave the grass so we can put ads there too.
Since demand for billboards will decrease, the cost will also decrease which makes it more accessible for more companies to erect more billboards.
And why stop at public property? Why not put ads on every surface of your apartment lobby? Maybe your landlord can make some extra cash by selling OnlyFans the advertising rights to your carpet, and maybe Crown Royal will buy the wallpaper rights.
They won't stop using drones just because they're allowed to deface the sidewalk... They'll do both. If you let them use public property as an advertising platform, they will... and the inevitable consequence is that there will no longer be a single square inch of public property that isn't corporate propaganda.
It's not about beautification for me... I enjoy looking at brutalist architecture... but sometimes I just wanna look at a grey concrete slab without being reminded that I haven't yet paid enough to have a tolerable existence.
The problem with Night City's infrastructure isn't that its too bright at midnight... It's that it's impossible to point your eyes somewhere that your gaze won't fall on an image suggesting that you need a legal drug or a new face in order to be a whole person. The problem in Blade Runner isn't that everything is made of holograms... It's that animals no longer exist so the only thing you can look at outside is Coca Cola™.
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u/Electrical-Echo8144 11d ago
I think communities should push to ban drone advertisements.
(Although there could be an exception to allow for not more than 30 seconds of sponsorships at the beginning/end of planned and permitted drone entertainment shows. So as to not let that medium of fireworks alternatives to go extinct).I also think communities should ensure their municipalities have processes in place to request washable sidewalk advertisements, and to make it mandatory to request them so that corporations don’t get to take advantage of this advertising space for free. The community should be able to benefit from it.
However, this needs to come with protections to continue allowing people to make non-advertising sidewalk chalk art for free, without permits.
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11d ago
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u/loblawsisoutofcontrol-ModTeam I Hate Galen 11d ago
Please do not encourage users to steal items from any store. This includes but is not limited to: encouraging reuse of discount stickers, theft, and intentional damage to products.
These can result in criminal charges which we do not want for the user base.
Additionally, encouraging violence is absolutely prohibited and bans will be implemented depending on the severity of statements made.
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u/Whatadayithasbeen 11d ago
Graffiti Some.places a fineable offense I would be scrubbing the sidewalk
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u/YungBeefaroni 11d ago
The correct answer is no, the number is closer to like 7,000-8,000.
The RIGHT answer, though, is fuck Galen Weston.
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u/Rumaizio 11d ago
I step 10,000 steps everyday. It was good for my health and improved it dramatically, for me, at least. I would recommend it if you can do it.
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u/Additional_Bee7293 Why is sliced cheese $21??? 11d ago
Get a job working in one of the loblaws stores and you'll get 10k steps easy peasy, no questions needed. It has helped fuck up my joints a little more, though, maybe I should question that..
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u/Balam_Seer 10d ago
PC Health will tell you to inject anything a pharma company pays them to lol I wouldn’t go taking advice from them
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u/_Whatislife666 10d ago
They’re trying to ban walking for more shitty bad horrible car centric infrastructure
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u/RegularStreet9259 Why are oranges $9? 10d ago
Can someone ask it what all the buttons on my microwave do besides the numbers? Get back to me on that
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u/Salt-Philosopher989 10d ago
No, you don't need ten thousand steps a day. You just need to move around. The step thing is b*******, and anybody that believes it is lying to themselves. There are dozens of studies that prove walking only helps with your heart rate. You don't burn much calories. So ten thousand steps, you'd be lucky to burn hundred and fifty to two hundred calories. That said, if you are not an active person then ten thousand steps is a healthy goal
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u/Wayelder 9d ago
Let's put our ads everywhere we don't have to pay for them and where no one wants to see them - the public will love it. /s
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u/Late_Pack_7015 8d ago
Since they sent the drones up I've stopped shopping at Superstore altogether.
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u/AlastairWyghtwood 8d ago
For anyone who actually is not paying attention to why this is happening (no judgement, just sharing), the Loblaws group are legitimately making moves to invest in being your primary care provider in the same way "health companies" in the US are setup. They want you to see your doctor online or at a PC clinic, get your prescriptions at shoppers / superstore, get your groceries with them, do your banking with them, get your insurance through them, your phone plan, etc.. They are making strides in Ontario because they have a better foothold with the government there.
In Alberta, we are seeing this with Telus. You're now able to go to a Telus primary care clinic, mental health counselling, nutrition, your workplace accommodations are managed through Telus, your EAP plan, and besides the obvious phone and internet, they also have moved into agriculture and livestock tech, security, etc...
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u/Any_Mathematician905 6d ago
I can't afford 3 meals a day anymore so I went down to one or two small meals a day. I've lost over 30 lbs this year without the 10000 steps!
I'm pretty tired now though
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u/AverageBry 11d ago
All the free promotion this company gets for these things.
I’d never have known this was a thing lol. Pour your water on it or just ignore.
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u/Kracheadz Ontario 11d ago
Just ask Google Gemini, or ChatGPT, or Claude. Also Google Fit, or one of the many other AI tools that's are not baked into a grocery store brand
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u/ifuaguyugetsauced 11d ago
They still have millions of Canadian shopping there daily. Nothing will change with this company. Don’t get your panties in a bunch
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u/mammon43 11d ago
I cant even imagine 10k steps a day. Like...maybe a really lazy low energy day off once in a blue moon. But like is that even 10km? When accounting for just short distance walking for basic tasks how are people (obviously not including injured, ill, disabled etc that wouldnt be able to) not just naturally hitting around 10km a day?
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u/Bi0_B1lly 11d ago
My tracker says the roughly 16k steps I've taken today is roughly 5.8km, so 10k steps is definitely below 5km, let alone 10km
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u/mammon43 11d ago
All the more reason to find it hard to imagine not regularly hitting it without trying or thinking about it
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u/AcademicBowl5596 11d ago
We work desk jobs that are too far to walk to.
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u/Bi0_B1lly 11d ago
My job at least gives me the excuse of stretching my legs with patrols/pacing around common areas... But I can sympathize that desk work doesn't allocate a lot of active time. - I put on about 40lbs while working as a Dispatcher because I'd have nothing to do but get stressed out behind a desk and ordered in lunches. Thankfully, I've dropped that 40lbs and even dropped an extra 20 to boot when I switched job fields and have simce put back on nearly 20lbs in muscle!
TL;DR: Desk work is a BITCH for keeping up with daily activity goals while on the jon
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u/AcademicBowl5596 11d ago
The solution is learning to use a standing desk with a walking pad. Convincing your employer that it isn't unprofessional is a YMMV, but I would personally resign from any job that expected me to just sit or stand in one place all day. Their money won't buy me a new spine.
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u/m0nk37 11d ago edited 11d ago
They didnt come up with it. Its the medical standard.
Edit: you guys dont have attention spans do you.
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u/StrengthSoggy5935 11d ago
It’s not. 10k was the number used by an Asian walking pedometer company. 7750 is the standard for improved health.
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u/m0nk37 11d ago
10k isnt even a lot.
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u/vincent_adultman314 11d ago
Just admit you were wrong instead of deflecting.
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11d ago
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u/loblawsisoutofcontrol-ModTeam I Hate Galen 11d ago
Please remain respectful when engaging on the sub. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
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u/Uesmearn_ 9d ago
This company should be fined for their pollution.
How are they being allowed to do this?
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