As part of its on-going monitoring of influencer campaigns, NAD recently launched an inquiry to assess whether influencers Brittany Mahomes and Lana Del Rey had adequately disclosed their relationship to Skims Body – a...more
James Hardie Building Products makes fiber cement home siding. The company produced a video demonstration that compared the combustibility of its siding to various competing products when exposed to a blowtorch. At the...more
DREO advertises that it is the “No. 1 Fan and Heater Brand” in the United States. Lasko, a competitor, thinks that it is, in fact, the “number 1” brand in both of those categories. Because there can’t be two “number 1”...more
Simpler Hair Color (or “SHC”) advertises that its products are “Rated #1 Men’s Hair Color” and “Rated #1 Men’s Hair & Beard Color” based on “Trustpilot.com verified reviews.” Combe, a competitor, challenged the #1 claims...more
Green marketing is very much in vogue, and so is suing companies over their green marketing. If you want to avoid those suits, you should generally start by looking at the FTC’s Green Guides. But a lot has changed since the...more
The Certified Angus Beef organization (or “CAB”) is a nonprofit organization that certifies high-quality Angus beef. CAB encourages beef producers to participate in the Beef Quality Assurance (or “BQA”) program, claiming...more
Under the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, influencers and celebrities have to disclose any material connection they have to the brands they promote “when a significant minority of the audience for an endorsement does not...more
Last year, T-Mobile ran a commercial in which Snoop Dogg breaks down Patrick Mahomes’ “top three plays of the day” with additional commentary from influencer Kai Cenat. Mahomes scrambles into a T-Mobile store with a “little...more
Revolve is an e-commerce fashion brand that relies heavily on influencers to promote its products. Some of those influencers promote the products pursuant to agreements with the company, while others promote the products as...more
TikTok offers an affiliate program through which influencers and other content creators can earn commissions by promoting products from various brands through affiliate links in their videos. Marketing experts often caution...more
Last year, T-Mobile ran a commercial in which Snoop Dogg breaks down Patrick Mahomes’ “top three plays of the day” with additional commentary from influencer Kai Cenat. Mahomes scrambles into a T-Mobile store with a “little...more
I’ll start by admitting that I don’t know anything about the game of pickleball. Using the word “basketball” as an example and working backwards by breaking the word “pickleball” into its component parts, I can make an...more
Just Play makes Daisy the Yoga Goat, a toy for kids. The company advertises that Daisy has “super-soft plush gray fur…and lots of personality” and a recent TV commercial shows Daisy as she independently “moves her head,...more
On Monday, the FTC announced a court order requiring GOAT – an online marketplace for sneakers, apparel, and accessories – to pay more than $2 million for violating the Mail Order Rule, which requires companies to have...more
If you’ve been on social media lately, depending on your algorithm, you may have witnessed tween influencers touting expensive skincare routines, or commentators lamenting the rise of the Sephora Kid. Before the holiday,...more
When an advertiser makes a comparison against a category of products, it must generally substantiate the claim against 85% of the products in that category. It’s common for advertisers to narrow down a category in order to...more
As we noted in a previous post, the FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, which went into effect on October 21, 2024, addresses deceptive conduct involving consumer reviews and testimonials and...more
Last year, the FTC updated its Endorsement Guides to impose more stringent requirements on how influencers must disclose their relationships to the companies whose products they promote. Although the FTC later sent letters to...more
Unbeknownst to me (until yesterday), Fat Bear Week has been a big event for the past ten years. As far as I can tell, it’s like a reality show in which the contestants are bears, instead of humans. And unlike some human...more
Gordon Ramsay is a celebrity chef, perhaps best known for his fiery temper and the harsh criticism he levels at contestants on his cooking shows. If Ramsay judges that food isn’t cooked properly, that the texture is off, or...more
On December 6, 2023, Google introduced its new Gemini AI model with a video that showcased some of its capabilities. The video demonstrated how Gemini could identify hand-drawn images, make sense of gestures, create games,...more
In 2021, Earth Island Institute filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola, alleging that the company’s campaign to promote its sustainability efforts and goals amounted to greenwashing. A year later, the DC Superior Court dismissed...more
LegalZoom makes various #1 claims, including that it is the “#1 choice for online small business formation,” that it is “#1 rated by small businesses,” and that is “voted #1 by small businesses.” ZenBusiness challenged these...more
LegalZoom has a box on its website with the title “As Seen In” followed by the logos of five publications that have featured its services. In an NAD challenge, ZenBusiness argued that because LegalZoom has an affiliate...more
If you’ve watched the news recently, it’s fairly safe to predict that two things happened. First, you probably watched an announcer recount disturbing news about the current political climate. Second, following that segment,...more