[♪♪♪] We're heading to the drive-in
for a special sinful edition of Marketplace. That's right Canada, we're ready
to screen the biggest sins some companies commit when trying
to get ahold of your cash. We buy into it but what
are we really buying into? You're about to find out. So grab some popcorn and join us
for the premiere of the Seven Sins of the
Marketplace. [♪♪♪] Hey, David. -Charlsie, how are ya?
-Good! -Asha, hey!
-Hey! Hey, David. How cool is this drive-in? [Asha] This one's been
here since the 1950s. It's amazing, and...a snack bar. So one of our goals here is to
help people save some money. That's right. This show is about all the
lessons we've learned since joining Marketplace. Things to help you make
your consumer choices. Like when a company tries to
sell you something you don't really need. We're calling that
the Sin of Creation and it kicks off our Seven Sins
of the Marketplace. [♪♪♪] [Charlsie] We've seen the Sin of
Creation all over social media. And in almost all of
our buzzkill stories. Like this one about UV wands. Pitched as the perfect
touch free solution to cleaning virtually any surface or
object from bacteria and bugs. What we basically see on the
market is that the wands do not achieve the level of
disinfection that they might claim. [Charlsie] That's because
devices could be using the wrong kind of light, or light that is
not strong enough to actually kill potentially harmful
bacteria or viruses living on your cell phone or keys. The UV light they're turning to
is probably going to give them a false sense of security. [Charlsie] When it comes to
protecting you from germs and viruses, experts say you
don't need to shell out on a pricey device. Good ol' fashioned cleaning
products will be just fine. This is a lifesaver. [Charlsie] Spoiler alert. This next sinful
creation is not a lifesaver. Goddess vaginal detox pearls. It plays on an out-of-date
concept that women need to keep their vagina clean. Besides ridding
you of bacteria, these tiny baggies of
Chinese herbs claim to help with fertility, even rid women
of past sexual trauma and bad boyfriends. Your vagina's a
self-cleaning oven. You should just let it be
and it will take care of you. It says in here Fructus Kochiae
motherwart, angelica, rhizoma, borneol. Is there anything in here
that sounds like it should go..? Nothing in there should
go in your vagina, at all. None of it. It's most likely going to
damage the mucosa, the good bacteria,
increase your risk of getting sexually
transmitted infections. [Charlsie] So when shopping,
remember. The company probably needs
you to buy it, more than you need to use it. Which is why the Sin of Creation
comes in at number seven on our list. Thank you. Next up, a sin that
exposes our privacy. From identity theft to smart
home devices, we've uncovered lots of things that
can make us vulnerable. Even these little guys. Sure, they make it super
convenient when it comes to locking our car doors. But we've also shown you,
they can make it easier for thieves to steal our cars. And just about
everyone has one of these. But it's the apps on our phones
that can be really scary as you're about to see,
with the Sin of Exposure. [♪♪♪] [Asha] We know a lot
about smartphones. And our phones know
even more about us. How much of your personal
info is really exposed? And what are the consequences? To answer that, we
created our very own app with similar terms and
conditions to popular ones out there. A lot of times we'll download an
app thinking it's a flashlight, thinking it's a game, thinking
it's a social media app, but it's so much more
bundled into it. [Siren wailing] [Asha] We found a few volunteers
to download what they think is a horoscope app. You willing to try it out? Yeah, sure. Sure, I could do that. Now what, what's...happening? You have to click and read--
gotta read those terms and conditions. You'll have to give me
a second here. Are you reading that quickly? -Skimming, I'm skimming.
-Skimming, okay, okay. [Asha] What no one realized? They gave us permission to
access their photos, call logs, text messages, location,
even their microphone. Ok, let's check out the call
logs for one of our testers. There are some
phone calls to Mom. Jason, what've we got here? Sticking out his tongue. Fun selfie. One of the things we can do is
record a photo from their actual phone so take a look at this. Wow, yup that's our tester. We reveal what we
know to our testers. Text messages, we had access
to that. Everything?
Oh, my... You needed a lab coat,
did you end up finding one? -Yeah.
-You did, eh? Yeah, I did. I have no idea what to say. I noticed that there is someone
you message all the time called Snoop Dodd? Yeah. That's kinda creepy. We also had access
to your microphone. We could've turned it on,
listened to your conversations, even recorded them. But we didn't. Now I'm just going through
my head, what else was I doing on my phone
throughout the week? And I know it wasn't all good. What's going through your
mind right now? Uh, I have no idea. You guys have access to all
of my information, you guys could've taken pictures at the
wrong time, could've listened to conversations that were private. [Asha] We didn't dig too deep,
but what are some companies doing with all this info? There's a lot of unanswered
questions as a consumer as to what's going to happen with our
data, how long it's going to be kept, and if there's any way
to delete it in the future. [Asha] So remember when using
apps, you don't know where your personal info could end up. That's why the Sin of Exposure
is number six on our list. Our next sin is a
pretty serious one. The Sin of Neglect. When companies put
our wellbeing at risk. We've seen it time and again,
with things like kids' jewelry made from toxic materials. Or trampoline parks that
ignored dangerous behaviour. But nowhere is the sin of
neglect more clear than in many of our long-term care homes. [Film reel ticking] [David] Long before COVID, we
were inside long-term care seeing the problems that would
come to make the pandemic worse. [David] So few staff,
run off their feet. [David] Our hidden camera
capturing workers warning government inspectors. This is one of your inspectors
saying we're fighting for that. One of the people
who reports to you. [David] Marketplace confronted
governments on why just three staff sometimes care for
30 vulnerable seniors. There's no legal floor. There's no minimum
number of ratio. But there's a legal requirement
that, that staffing ratio, that staffing plan, has to reflect
the nature of the residents that live there. [David] Even as 3500 die from
COVID in Ontario homes, we reveal they're still
breaking the law. That's just a crazy statement. They're not interested in
complying with the law. It's the law. And we show homes failing
to follow infection rules. He goes, this is huge. It's a huge bedsore. I walked towards her room
and I can smell the bedsore. It's that bad. And he goes, it's
down to the bone. And he said to me at that point
that this is life threatening. [David] In a system where
failure has no consequence for homes that
screw up repeatedly. We demand answers. But, Minister, just to be clear,
there have been thousands of instances under which these care
homes have broken the law for things like abuse and neglect. And virtually none of them
have ever faced consequences. And we've heard the torment of
families when governments failed to act. So this means to tell me that
everything my mom endured... ..was all for not. [David] Governments repeatedly
told there weren't enough staff. That care homes were failing
to follow the rules to stop infections. They were on a cliff. COVID pushed them over. The Sin of Neglect comes in at
number five on our Seven Sins of the Marketplace. [♪♪♪] Sometimes you wonder
how we fall for things. But let's face it, marketing
can be pretty persuasive. And there's lots of companies
trying to seduce us with their advertising. For instance, DNA kits that
promise to give you more answers about your ancestry than they
can actually deliver. We're talking about
the Sin of Seduction. [Charlsie] Millions of people
are buying kits, curious about their ancestry. You can pinpoint specifically? [Charlsie] Companies promise
their tests will reveal where you come from or
who your people are. It's really nice to have
some kind of a connection to my background. [Charlsie] We put five DNA kit
companies to the test to see just how
accurate they can be. Fill the tube with saliva
to the black wavy line. [Charlsie] Oh, and there's
a twist. Cheers, don't touch it though! [Charlsie] My sister Carly's
in on this too. I feel like I'm on Law & Order. Yeah, CSI. [Charlsie] It's DNA science. We're identical twins. Our ancestry should
all be the same, right? But when we get our results... -Okay.
-Ready? [both] 1,2,3. What? Russia?! [Charlsie] 39% Eastern Europe
and Russia. [Carly] No way! -What does yours say?
-Did you get the exact same? [Charlsie] With some company
results, our identical DNA does not lead to
identical ancestry. French and German. What? Oh, I don't have that!! You don't have that at all? No. I'm 3.8% broadly European. Well, I'm 12.7. Well, that's a big difference. Yeah. [Charlsie] Our results even
stunned this team of experts. So, the fact that they present
different results for you and your sister,
I find very mystifying. We spent many hours, we tried
to understand why they might be different. But we cannot. I think the clean thing to say
is we don't know how they did the calculations, but we
strongly think you and your sister should get the
same report, end of day. [Charlsie] Companies tell us
even tiny variations in DNA can lead their formulas to give
us different estimates. So if you're feeling drawn in by
fancy marketing and claims that are too good to be true? Watch out for our number
four sin on our list, the Sin of Seduction. [male voice-over] Yum, yum,
it's time for a tasty and refreshing snack. [David] Grab a sinful snack... Our countdown of Seven Sins
of the Marketplace will be right back! Do you have a story you think
marketplace should investigate next? Tell us all about it on email,
Twitter, and Facebook. [♪♪♪] We're counting down the
Seven Sins of the Marketplace. And this next sin is one we
come across all the time. Seems there's no shortage of
people out there happy to fake it
so they can make it. We've seen everything from fake
cures to fake degrees from fake universities. But there's one area in
particular we've seen repeated attempts at fakery. And that tops our
Sin of Deception. [Asha] Online reviews are
everywhere. We rely on them to help us
decide where to spend our money. But how easy is it for a company
to fool us with fake reviews? To find out, we invent a phony
food truck called Cheezed Off! With its own website,
Facebook page and lots of tricked-out photos. Then we hire people to say
how much they like our truck on different review sites. "I love getting
lunch at Cheezed Off. "They're fast, they're friendly
and they make the best grilled "cheese sandwich around." [Asha] We show just how easy it
is to manufacture a good reputation even for
a phony business. A few years later, the problem
of fake reviews is still there. And this woman is too. Hi there, my name is Susanne. Hi, I'm Tessa Daily
of Tampa, Florida. Hey everyone, it's Jennifer. [Asha] She seems to have made
thousands of testimonials. I'm a certified
financial advisor. ..and I'm a designer. ..and I'm a teacher. [Asha] And even poses as
various experts to push diet supplements. Hi, my name is
Maria J. Clifford. Gina Parker.
Jessica Moore. I'm a licensed dietitian at
the Kennedy Health Institute in Washington. ..at the Harold Institute
here in Washington. I'm also the mother of two. And I'm also the
mother of three children. [Asha] But when we try to track
her down, she's hard to find so we use some deception
of our own. We order another fake
testimonial and send a scarf for her to wear in it. When she picks up the package
at the post office, we move in. The CBC, and we want to talk to
you about the testimonials you sell on Fiverr. Oh I'm gonna pass thanks. Why? I just don't have anything to
say, and I don't really want to be on camera right now. Why do you do so
many fake reviews? I don't even know who you are. Why do you do so many fake
reviews, aren't you misleading people? I don't even know who you
are, get away from my car. [♪♪♪] Why won't you talk to us? What about the people
that believe your reviews and trust you? [♪♪♪] [Asha] She eventually DOES talk
to us-- and denies her involvement in
selling testimonials. But then defends the practice. Can I tell you what you're doing
is unethical, possibly illegal? Nothing I have done or anybody
I know in that marketplace is doing anything wrong. They are earning money, they are
doing things and I have nothing to say. Get that microphone out of my-- You don't think what you're
doing is wrong, you don't think giving false testimonials--
-Are you the moral police? Are you the moral police? -I'm asking you what you think.
-Are you the moral police? I'm asking your thoughts. No, I have no comment. I'm asking your
thoughts, Susanne. -I have no comment.
-I want to know if you think-- You don't even know. --that giving false testimonials
online, if that's not wrong? Get your microphone out of my
car which is private property. [Asha] The whole point of online
reviews is to create what's called "social proof". We're more likely
to buy something if others around us agree
it's a good decision. And when people
try to fake us out, that trust is broken. Which is why deception comes
in at number three on our Seven Sins of the Marketplace. From the sin of deception to
destruction, waste is next on our countdown. We've seen too many companies
that create products or policies with little thought
for the environment. Take plastic. We've shown you how hard
it is to avoid at the supermarket, even in
your bottled water. But the biggest eye opener for
us came when we travelled across the world to find out what
really happens to our recycling. [Film reel ticking] [David] Whoa. Big, big, big mountain of
plastic in there. Malaysia. A dumping ground
for Canadian plastic. Holy moly. Look at how big this
is, just take a look. Look how far it goes. This is just one dump, one dump. A vast field of
plastic two stories high. It's cheaper to send here
rather than recycle at home. This is Canadian Tire. This is Marketplace IGA. This is Real
Canadian Superstore. Compliments water,
the Dollar Store. A sea of Canadian
plastics now likely to be dumped or burned. [David] Lydia Ong wants to show
the world the consequences. [David] And what is that dust? As we're leaving,
fires have started. Oh, now you smell it. All of this
plastic burning again. We're not going to hang out here
long, 'cause this is a lot of toxic chemicals
going up into the sky. They make their money by
recycling, so why would they dump it and burn it? Cut costs. [David] Turns out, only 9% of
plastic ends up actually being recycled in Canada. Much of it shipped overseas,
classified as something more recyclable than it actually is. [David] We know there are
companies happy to exploit the problem, no matter
the harm they cause. Another reason for us all to
reduce our use of plastic. And fight the number two sin
on our list, the Sin of Waste. [male voice-over] We're happy to
have you with us this evening and want you to enjoy every
minute of your stay here. [David] Stick around for
our number one Sin of the Marketplace. It's a real cliffhanger! Find out...when we return. Get more marketplace. Sign up for our weekly
newsletter, cbc.ca/marketplace. [♪♪♪] We're ready to reveal
our number one sin in the Seven Sins of
the Marketplace. And this next one is frustrating
not only for us as journalists, but for you, the audience
as well. When we work on our stories, we
want answers, and we expect them most from our government. But they don't
always want to talk. And we consider that our
number one sin, the Sin of Silence. [Charlsie] Statements like
this one. Or this one.
Or this one. We've been sent so many. They make it seem like
government officials are participating. But they don't allow for
a true exchange of ideas. [David] And you'd think they'd
step up and be interested in your concerns, and our
investigations. But often when our questions
go unanswered, we show up unannounced. Minister Elliott, I'm David
Common with CBC. Can I just ask you a really
quick question about long-term care? I'm Asha Tomlinson
with CBC Marketplace. Yeah, I didn't know you
were coming, actually, did you contact my
press secretary? We've contacted your press
secretary several times. -We just want to talk to you.
-Can I have a private word? Would you mind?
Is that okay? Would you speak
with us afterwards? I'll be with you in a moment. -How's that?
-Okay, wonderful. -Thank you.
-And I know you're filming, so. Thank you. We provided a statement to
Marketplace and we're not prepared to do an
on-camera interview. So we're just trying to get some
answers around sexual violence. They're concerned that the
school didn't do enough to protect them. We can't speak to
specific incidents. [Charlsie] So if you are a
public official staying silent on public issues, you are guilty
of our number one sin, the Sin of Silence. Our season may be
over, but our work is not. We've got your back. We're going to keep
fighting for you. Send us your stories and tell us
what you want us to investigate next. And remember that this will
forever be your marketplace. [♪♪♪] -Audio file one?
-Audio file number one. [♪♪♪] I'm not good at this. ..create products or policies
with little thought for the environment. [Laughter] [man] It's okay, it wasn't good
for me. [David] Whoa! [Laughter] Yes! [David] There she is.
She's from the 1950s. -And look, a snack bar!
-It kind of-- [Charlsie] Okay, good job
everybody! [♪♪♪]
