Quebec Man vs. the Fine Print

Canadian magazines better think twice before going all Ed McMahon with their subscription promotions. As reported in The Globe and Mail, the Supreme Court awarded a Quebec man $15,000 in damages after he was fooled by a Time Magazine promotion into believing he had won almost a million dollars.

The Time promotion apparently lacked even the famous conditional language adopted by Publisher's Clearing House, "You may have already won!"

Does anyone remember who I am?

Instead, it declared boldly that "Mr. Jean Marc Richard has won a cash prize of $833,337.00," while hiding conditions on the ridiculously specific sum in the fine print.

Misleading marketing schemes of this sort are hardly the norm in Canada, so this ruling will likely be vindication for the majority of Canadian publishers who work hard to sell their magazines without taking ethical shortcuts.