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The line between what’s an objective claim (which does require proof) and puffery (which does not require proof) isn’t always clear, and reasonable minds can differ as to on which side of the line a claim belongs. When the Eighth Circuit held in 2004 that “America’s Favorite Pasta” was puffery, many people were surprised and …

We frequently get questions about whether companies can be held liable for claims that appear in consumer reviews. Although it’s clear that there are instances in which a company can be held liable if it has a connection to the person who wrote the review, it has been less clear to what extent a company …

The Federal Trade Commission has long supported advertising industry self-regulation as a means of promoting truthfulness and accuracy in advertising. One of the key aspects of this success has been threat of referral to the FTC: Advertisers that refuse to participate in the self-regulatory process or refuse to comply with recommendations after participating are referred…

Last Friday, our friend August Horvath of Foley Hoag presented at an Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) conference on consumer perception surveys.  Among the many interesting observations made by August were the following:

  • Over a 5+ year period, June 2013 to present, only 36 cases or 8 percent of total NAD cases, included reference to a

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One of the issues that frequently comes up in NAD cases is “line claims.” Does an ad convey a claim about a specific product? Or does it convey a claim about an entire line of products? This week, NAD released a decision that explores that issue in the context of a funny commercial by Charter …

As part of its routine monitoring, the NAD requested substantiation for various statements that a BuzzFeed staff member had made about a moisturizer in one of the site’s shopping guides. The NAD’s decision in the case sheds some much-needed light on various issues related to affiliate marketing.

BuzzFeed explained that the shopping guides include product …

Advertisers who lose a challenge at the NAD automatically have the right to appeal the decision to the National Advertising Review Board (or “NARB”). Challengers who lose may also request an appeal, but the appeal is not automatic – it must be approved by the NARB Chair. Although appeals from NAD decisions are relatively rare …

Advertisers who want to tout the comparative advantages of their products have a number of options for framing those comparisons. For example, they can compare their products to specific products, they can compare their products to defined categories of products, or they can more vaguely compare their products to “regular,” “ordinary,” or “other” products. Although…

Laura Brett became the director of the National Advertising Division in August 2017. Law360 published a Q&A session with special counsel Jennifer Fried and Laura Brett that provides insight into the NAD, what we can expect in the upcoming years, Laura’s approach as the NAD director, recent noteworthy cases, the NAD’s deliberative process, and much…