to maple wash
– C1-C2 (advanced) –
Practice Your Listening Comprehension
Practice Your Reading Comprehension
In Canadian English, this phrasal verb typically means:
to falsely market a product or company as Canadian in order to encourage Canadians to consume said product or to use said company’s services
NOTE
This type of marketing typically only occurs inside of Canada. Any claim of Canadian identity by the aforementioned company is generally not mentioned in its local or other international markets.
EXAMPLES
“When given a choice, many Canadians like to stimulate the national economy by purchasing local goods and services over international ones. This can sometimes impact an international business’ profit in Canada. As a result, many enterprises from abroad maple wash themselves, claiming Canadian identity on their packaging or on their websites for the purpose of increasing their sales in the Canadian market.”
“Practical examples of businesses maple washing themselves or their products and/or services include: saying that their company is Canadian because one of their employees–who has no stake in the business–has Canadian heritage; claiming that the enterprise is Canadian in identity because it uses one ingredient that is from a third-party Canada-based supplier; or the office culture or mission statement of a company being advertised as equal to sentiments found in Canadian culture and society.”
