RED ALERT!
Touring trade show organizers from Calgary have been impersonating an Edmonton business and festival.
Calgary trade show organizers, have been using the name of Edmonton’s beloved festival to acquire funds intended for Edmonton, convincing sponsors they are sponsoring the Edmonton BeerFest.
Their tactics aim to gain sponsorship dollars and attendees by exploiting the goodwill and international reputation of Edmonton’s festival. They have been very effective at this in the Calgary market, convincing out-of-town sponsors they are sponsoring the Edmonton BeerFest.
Names this trade show are using in their marketing and sponsorship sales include the following:
- Edmonton BeerFest
- YEGBEERFEST
- Edmonton International BeerFest
- many other variations
The Purposeful confusion practiced by this company include:
- Selling fake tickets to Edmonton BeerFest
- Having partners sell fake tickets to Edmonton BeerFest on their behalf (e.g., “Purchase ______ and get a free Edmonton BeerFest ticket”)
- Accepting sponsorship dollars intended for Edmonton’s BeerFest
- Scheduling events on abnormally close dates in venues with similar names
- Impersonating an Edmonton business and using media content from Edmonton BeerFest as their own
- Leveraging the local festival’s name and history with suppliers, media, entertainment, etc.
- Scheduling events on the exact same dates as previous years’ Edmonton BeerFest
These business practices have caused confusion among sponsors, media and attendees in Edmonton and internationally. Investment intended for Edmonton was taken from its intended community of Edmonton to Calgary. The Calgary company has used these funds to sponsor and fund projects in their community, attempting to establish credibility and making it difficult to correct the confusion.
The legitimate festival’s name and reputation have been damaged in their community and internationally.
We only recently became aware of this pre Covid this trade show was very small and in the summer months.
