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FTC Warns Manufacturers and Retailers About Made in USA Claims

As we noted earlier this month, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson designated July as ​“Made in USA” Month. Because Hallmark still hasn’t printed greeting cards to commemorate the month, the FTC celebrated by sending warning...more

NAD Considers ​“Up To” Qualifiers in Superiority Claims

Coterie Baby advertises that its diapers provide ​“up to 4x more absorbency” and ​“up to 3x drier skin” compared to ​“leading brands.” P&G, the maker of Pampers – one of the two leading brands of diapers – challenged this...more

FTC Issues FAQs on Fees Rule, Affirms Rule to Become Effective Next Week

The FTC issued FAQs to answer common questions about its Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees and to provide a small entity compliance guide in connection with the Rule. The issuance of the FAQs affirms that the current FTC, led...more

Multiple Bites at the Apple over AI Claims

When Apple announced the iPhone 16 last year, it advertised that it would be ​“the first iPhone built for Apple Intelligence.” Apple touted several AI features and advertised that Apple Intelligence is ​“Available Now.” In...more

NAD Decision Addresses Torture Tests

Rascals advertises that the Hydrolock Core in its diapers ​“holds up to 25 x its weight” and ​“absorbs 15 x its weight.” P&G thought that claim was full of crap and filed a challenge before the NAD, arguing that Rascals...more

NAD Deflates Disparaging Claims

Tempur-Pedic ran ads on social media asking viewers whether they want a mattress ​“that inflates and deflates like a balloon. Because that’s how a Sleep Number mattress works. When you select your Sleep Number, you’re adding...more

Shein Faces Class Action Over Influencer Posts

A recent class action asks how it’s possible that a Chinese company, with allegedly ​“no fashion designers or background, selling flea-market quality clothes, became a giant in the fast-fashion industry in the US?” The...more

Amazon Hit With Greenwashing Lawsuit

Last week, consumers in four states filed a proposed class action against Amazon, accusing the company of greenwashing by misleading consumers about the sustainability of the company’s Amazon Basics line of paper products....more

NAD Considers Whether ​“Number 1” Claims Can be Qualified

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

NAD Combs Through #1 Claims

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

What’s Next for the Green Guides? Insights from Commissioner Holyoak’s Remarks at CPG

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

NAD Considers Whether ​“Best Practices” are Really the Best Practices

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

NARB Disagrees with NAD on who the ​“Big Guys” Are

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

NY Court Stalls JBS Greenwashing Suit

In 2023, NAD reviewed claims that JBS had made about its goal ​“to be net zero by 2040.” NAD determined that although the company had taken steps to reach the goal, those steps weren’t enough to support the claim. In 2024,...more

P&G Accused of Greenwashing and Creating ​“Frankenforests”

Earlier this month, a group of eight consumers filed a class action against Procter & Gamble (“P&G”), alleging that the company is engaging in greenwashing by misleading consumers into thinking that its Charmin toilet paper...more

NAD Hears a Dispute Between Two Big (or Maybe Medium) Guys

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

Advertising Lessons from the World of Pickleball

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

FTC Releases Narrowed Junk Fees Rule for Ticketing and Lodging

Fourteen months after proposing a far-reaching rule that would have overhauled the way fees are disclosed across sectors, the FTC today announced a significantly curtailed final rule limited to the sale of live-event tickets...more

From GrubHub to StubHub: DC Sues StubHub for Deceptive Pricing and Junk Fees

In June, we summarized a number of new and pending laws specifically designed to regulate how companies display prices and fees. Although it’s important for companies to focus on those, we also noted that even in states...more

“Junk Fee” Legislative Roundup

For the past several years, state AGs have been ​“checked-in” when it comes to hidden hotel and resort fees. (Revisit our round-up of AG actions against those fees here). To date, these enforcers have largely relied on their...more

California DOJ Dispels Myths on New Hidden Fee Law

Last year, California enacted a law which will generally require companies to include all mandatory fees when they advertise prices. Starting on July 1, 2024, the following practices will be unlawful...more

Top Advertising Law Developments in 2023

If you follow our blog, you already know that there have been a number of significant developments in the world of advertising law over the past 12 months. In this post, we highlight ten of those developments and consider...more

California Bans Hidden Fees

As we posted yesterday, the FTC announced a proposed rule that could fundamentally alter how businesses across industries advertise prices and disclose fees to consumers. At around the same time the FTC was preparing to...more

FTC and State AGs Can Continue Joint Case Over Fake Reviews

Fake reviews continue to be a hot topic in consumer protection. In 2022, we reported that six states and the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Roomster – a platform through which people can find rooms and...more

FTC Settles with Company Over Failure to Post Negative Reviews

Companies often ask us whether they can highlight positive reviews without mentioning negative ones. The good news is that there are ways to do that, but when the conversation veers from highlighting positive reviews to...more

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