Advertising Litigation

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Because consumer reviews are so important in today’s marketplace, many companies go to great lengths to increase their number of favorable reviews. Sometimes, they go too far. We’ve written about FTC and NAD cases in which companies incentivized reviews without proper disclosures and even about cases in which companies solicited fake reviews. (Click here,…

Peloton Interactive sells exercise bikes and treadmills that can stream live and on-demand fitness classes. For a while, the company advertised that its library of classes was “ever-growing.” Although that may have been true when the company first made the claim, things changed. In response to a lawsuit related to the music used in some…

In a series of orders issued earlier this month, Judge Dale S. Fischer of the Central District of California dealt two strikes to putative class claims against ticket merchants Ticketmaster/LiveNation and StubHub that seek refunds for Major League Baseball games cancelled or “postponed” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  See Ajzenman, et al. v.

Last week, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York dismissed a putative class action alleging that L’Oreal’s “EverSleek Keratin Caring” hair products deceived consumers into believing the products contained keratin. United States District Court Judge George B. Daniels rejected these allegations, finding that the challenged statements were clear both on their own…

In Huskey v. Colgate-Palmolive Company, No. 4:19-cv-02710-JAR (E.D. Mo.), plaintiffs Drew Huskey and Jamie Richard (Plaintiffs) claimed that Colgate-Palmolive Company (Colgate) falsely advertised that its Speed Stick Stainguard antiperspirant products (Speed Stick) fight yellow stains and white marks on clothing.  Plaintiffs claimed that they purchased Speed Stick, but continued to experience marks and stains…

On August 20, a Northern District of California court stayed the trial of an action the FTC brought against Lending Club in 2018 pending a Supreme Court ruling on the FTC’s authority to seek monetary restitution under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. The issue of whether the FTC has authority to seek monetary relief…

Subscription plans that automatically renew at the end of a term are becoming more popular with companies. They’re also getting more attention from regulators and class action attorneys. As we’ve discussed before, some states regulate how these plans can be structured, and there have been both lawsuits and regulatory investigations targeting companies that have…

It has been more than two years since the D.C. Circuit found the Federal Communications Commission’s (the “FCC”) discussion of predictive dialers and other equipment alleged to be an automatic telephone dialing system (“ATDS,” or “autodialer”) to “offer no meaningful guidance” on the question. In the absence of an FCC ruling on the remand, multiple…

Last month, a California court, for a second time, dismissed a class action complaint asserting that Ghirardelli’s advertising for its “Classic White” “Premium Baking Chips” created the false impression that the product contained real chocolate—this time with prejudice.  Plaintiffs in Cheslow v. Ghirardelli Chocolate Co., Case No. 19-cv-07467-PJH, alleged that they purchased Ghirardelli’s product…

A federal judge in Florida recently dismissed a false advertising case against Tyson Fresh Meats and The Fresh Market challenging the use of the word “prime” to describe Tyson’s “Chairman’s Reserve Prime Pork.” Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants “misrepresented that the USDA had graded their product as prime,” but notably did not allege…