NAD recently issued a decision in a challenge that Zillow brought against Apartments.com involving a humorous campaign that featured Jeff Goldblum. The decision covers a lot of ground, including some issues that may be unique to the rental market. For today, though, we’ll focus on an issue that spans industries and comes up frequently. Specifically,
Lather, Rinse, Review, Repeat – NAD Issues New Decision on Haircare Reviews
Last year, Prose – a company that makes customized haircare products – brought an NAD challenge against a competitor, Function, over Function’s claims that it had over 110,000 5-star product reviews. Shortly after that, Function filed a challenge against Prose over Prose’s claims that it had over 192,000 5-star product reviews. (You can read about
Food and Personal Care Product Litigation and Regulatory Highlights – March 28, 2022
This month’s update kicks off spring with a Best in Show throwback ad comparing dog flea and tick medication, pivots to claims for survivalist ready-to-eat meals (don’t even try to act like you saw that coming), highlights FDA’s recently-issued voluntary recall guidance, provides a food court update on the latest ingredient class actions and cleans
How Many is Many?
NAD recently announced a decision in a challenge that Charter brought against T-Mobile for its home internet service. The decision covers a lot of ground and is worth reading if you work in the telecom space. But for the purposes of this post, we’re going to focus more narrowly on one specific issue that spans
NAD Continues to Focus on Green Claims
Most NAD challenges are initiated by competitors, but NAD can also initiate its own inquiries as part of its mission to independently monitor national ads for truthfulness and accuracy. Over the past few months, NAD has initiated inquiries into green claims made by Georgia-Pacific and Everlane. Last week, NAD announced a decision
NAD Reviews Charitable Donation Claims
In recent years, more companies have been willing to take public positions on social issues and to promote certain causes. Different types of promotions raise different legal issues. For example, if a company advertises that a purchase will lead to a donation to a charity, that could trigger requirements under commercial co-venture laws. (Listen to
Food + Personal Care Litigation and Regulatory Highlights – January 2022
Welcome to our 2022 inaugural issue of Food and Personal Care Litigation and Regulatory Highlights, where we explore trends and developments from around these industries. It’s fair to say that the year has started off very busy in both the courtroom and the regulatory arena. On this chilly winter day, our first stop is in California.
Prop 65
Our friends at Kelley Green Law Blog get the starting position for this issue by highlighting a precipitous uptick in the number of Prop 65 filings over the prior year. While the Covid-19 pandemic caused all sorts of disruptions to society and the economy, at least one area of business has thrived over the last two years: private plaintiff enforcement of California Proposition 65. In 2020-2021, over 40% more Prop 65 actions were brought by private plaintiff “bounty hunters” than in the two years prior to the pandemic (2018-2019). Compared to a decade ago, private plaintiff groups now initiate three times more Prop 65 actions each year, and five times more than in 2008. Learn more here about the most frequently cited chemicals and those that are emerging, including PFAS.
Continue Reading Food + Personal Care Litigation and Regulatory Highlights – January 2022
NAD Addresses Apples, Oranges, and Dogs
The makers of Bravecto ran a TV ad comparing Bravecto and NexGard – both flea and tick prevention products – and starring one of the actors from Best in Show. The makers of NexGard challenged the ad before the NAD and the resulting decision holds important lessons for anyone running comparative ads. If you
New NAD Case Addresses Green Claims in Fashion Industry – Part 2
In a post last week, we looked at NAD’s review of Everlane’s green claims relating to the company’s use of recycled plastic in its products and its aspirational goals to remove virgin plastic from its entire supply chain by 2021. In this post, we’ll look at what NAD had to say about Everlane’s “Safer
NAD Frowns on Byte’s Incentivized Reviews
As advertisers wait to see what the FTC will do after sending 700 warning letters related to influencers and incentivized reviews, the NAD has been resolving disputes on similar issues. Yesterday, NAD announced a new decision involving incentivized reviews. Although the decision is consistent with previous cases in this area, there are some nuances worth