Court in Crisco "Butter" False Ad Nixes Overbroad Proposed Classes - Despite surviving two motions to dismiss, an Illinois plaintiff alleging that Crisco falsely advertised its cooking spray as containing butter couldn't...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
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
The State Attorneys General group is also pleased to announce the pilot of a new newsletter – AG Chronicles – that premiered last week. AG Chronicles serves as a mechanism to keep you informed of upcoming webinars in our...more
Glad advertises that its ForceFlex MaxStrength bags are “25% more durable.” More durable than what? If you follow an asterisk, you’ll learn that they are 25% more durable than Glad’s own 13-gallon ForceFlex bags. A...more
The National Advertising Division (NAD) issues decisions on a periodic basis involving advertising claims submitted to it for review. Although the full case decisions are not publicly available without a subscription, the...more
The lawsuit against meat packer JBS Foods concerns the company’s advertisements that it would be “Net Zero by 2040” and is one in a growing number of claims arising from allegedly deceptive environmental marketing claims. It...more
With a Little Nudge from the FTC—NAD Able To Take a Closer Look at "Smarter Reviews" Advertising - Following a referral to the FTC, a "review" site suspected of improperly making advertising claims that look like editorial...more
Smile Prep operates a website that provides reviews of clear aligners (or “invisible braces”) based on an “extensive five-point analysis.” Because Smile Prep’s sole source of revenue consists of commissions from some of the...more
New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against JBS USA Food Company and JBS USA Food Company Holdings (“JBS”), subsidiaries of a Brazilian company, the world’s largest beef and poultry producers, for...more
Last year, a trade association challenged aspirational claims that JBS – the world’s largest producer of beef products – was making about its commitment “to be net zero by 2040.” NAD determined that although the company had...more
On February 28, 2024, the New York Attorney General (“NYAG”) sued JBS USA Food Company and JBC USA Food Company Holdings (collectively, “JBS”), pursuant to New York state consumer protection laws, for alleged greenwashing...more
In This Case, What You Can't See in Fact Is Not There: FTC Takes Down the Makers of the Invisible COVID Mask - After what has seemed like a lull in both diagnosed COVID cases and the enforcement variety—both the virus and...more
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola reformulated its Powerade beverage to include more electrolytes. In some ads, it boasted that the beverage now contained “50% more electrolytes vs. Gatorade Thirst Quencher.” One social media...more
Smile Prep operates a website that provides reviews of clear aligners (otherwise known as “invisible braces”) based on an “extensive five-point analysis.” Because Smile Prep’s sole source of revenue consists of commissions...more
The annual legal conference for the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureaus National Programs (NAD) took place over two days this week in Philadelphia. The conclave was well-attended by the advertising...more
Kardashian Kopycat? Energy Drink Company Claims Competitor Stole Kim's Copyrighted Look - The Instagram posts look nearly identical, in a blink-and-you'll-miss-the-difference kind of way—or so says the complaint filed by...more
World's No. 1 Meat Manufacturer's "Net Zero" Claims Aren't All Hogwash, But They're Not Exactly Substantiated, NARB Concludes - Claims that the world's largest producer of animal meat and protein products will achieve "net...more
Major media and consultants are noting the increasing trend towards corporate “greenhushing,” that is, adopting a “radio-silence approach to environmental goals.” For example, a survey late last year reported that one in four...more
Whether it is the FTC or the National Advertising Division, reviews are a hot topic and content posted by third-party review sites an even hotter one. The line between unbiased reviews and affiliate advertising and by...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
Last week, we blogged about an environmental ESG NAD challenge brought by an advocacy group; this week features a blog about an animal welfare ESG NAD challenge also brought by an advocacy group. The challenge was...more
Now that 2020 is in the rearview mirror (*collective sigh of relief*), we wanted to share our perspective on notable decisions and trends from this past year at the National Advertising Division and the advertising...more