NARB recently announced a decision in a case involving various claims that Shark Ninja made in an infomercial for its Shark Stratos Powered Lift-Away vacuum cleaner, including claims about how well the vacuum picks up hair...more
Most NAD cases are brought by competitors, but NAD can also initiate a proceeding pursuant to its “responsibility for monitoring and reviewing national advertising for truthfulness and accuracy.” Looking at the cases NAD...more
In May 2022, the FTC proposed changes to its Endorsement Guides. Among other things, those changes created more prescriptive disclosure requirements for endorsements, imposed various requirements for consumer reviews, and...more
This week, just a few days before the Fourth of July holiday, the FTC announced a settlement with three fashion companies (that operated together as a common enterprise) over patriotic claims that the companies made about...more
Yesterday, the FTC announced an $18.5 million settlement with Publishers Clearing House (PCH), a marketing company known for using sweepstakes to sell magazine subscriptions. In its 52-page complaint, the FTC alleges PCH used...more
JBS – the second-largest food company in the world – made several aspirational claims about its commitment “to be net zero by 2040.” Those claims were challenged by a trade association, who argued that the claims were...more
In 2017, the FTC announced that Adore Me, an online lingerie company, had agreed to return more than $1.3 million to customers who enrolled in a negative-option membership program offering discounts and other benefits. Almost...more
Plaintiffs recently filed a class action lawsuit against Delta, alleging that the airline’s “carbon-neutral” claims, such as: “Carbon Neutral Since March 2020,” and “travel confidently knowing that we will offset the carbon...more
In 2019, the FTC announced a settlement with a retailer over allegations that it had encouraged employees to write favorable reviews of its products without disclosing they worked for the company. Most observers weren’t...more
When a disclosure is necessary to prevent an ad from being misleading, the disclosure must be presented in a “clear and conspicuous” manner. Exactly what that means depends a lot on the context, but one question we get...more
This week, the FTC held its Talking Trash at the FTC workshop, a four-hour event intended to examine “recyclable” claims in ads. We’ve sifted through some of the trash and pulled out a few things worth noting....more
Abraham Lizama purchased a turquoise sweater from H&M’s “Conscious Choice” collection, a line of clothing “created with a little extra consideration for the planet” which generally include “at least 50% of more sustainable...more
In January 2022, the Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Google alleging that the company engaged iHeartMedia DJs to provide endorsements for its Pixel 4 phone, even though they had never used it. In November 2022,...more
Over the past few weeks, we’ve posted about a few cases involving pricing claims, including a post discussing a lawsuit over a grocer’s BOGO offers, a post discussing a lawsuit over major retailer’s frequent sales, and a post...more
My Patriot Supply (or “MPS”) and 4Patriots both make long-term survival food kits and related products. If a natural disaster strikes, if AI-powered bots wreak havoc on humanity, or if you just want to binge-watch your...more
Mike Lindell – the “My Pillow Guy” – makes pillows that are soft to touch and claims that are hard to prove. In 2021, Lindell announced that he had compiled evidence demonstrating that China had interfered in the 2020...more
Last week, two Washington consumers filed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Old Navy of spamming them with emails that included false or misleading information about the duration of sales. For example, the complaint...more
NAD recently announced two decisions involving Biossance’s Squalane & Marine Algae Eye Cream. Neither of the decisions involved claims made by the company itself, though. Instead, the decisions involved mentions of the eye...more
Following the Supreme Court's 2021 decision striking down the FTC's practice of using FTC Act Section 13(b) to obtain monetary redress in AMG Capital Mgmt., LLC v. FTC, 141 S. Ct. 1341 (2021), the FTC has been exploring...more
Negotiating exclusivity provisions in agency agreements can often be difficult. Companies want to broadly prevent agencies from working for competitors, while agencies are reluctant to cut off other sources of work. In most...more
If you want to advertise that something is the “best,” do you need substantiation? Or can you rely on a puffery argument? Although the answer depends on context, one paragraph in a recent NAD decision seems to conflict with...more
Last year, we wrote about a challenge that NAD had initiated against various green claims made by the American Beverage Association (or “ABA”). NAD found that several of ABA’s claims – including claims that “our bottles are...more
If a third-party writes a good review of your product – or, even better, rates it as one of the best – can you link to that review? A new NAD decisions suggests that the answer may not be as easy as people think....more
For $9.99 per month, Pier 1 offers Pier 1 Rewards, a loyalty program that includes benefits such as a 10% discount on all purchases and free shipping and returns on eligible items. Until recently, when a consumer added an...more
A recent post on the FTC’s Business Blog notes that although there may be disagreement about what “artificial intelligence” or “AI” is, those terms are being used in marketing campaigns, and the FTC worries that some...more