In April, Draper James – the clothing line of Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon – conducted a promotion for teachers, but ran into some communication issues along the way and is now the subject of a class action lawsuit. In an Instagram post, the brand thanked teachers for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and
On the latest episode of the Ad Law Access Podcast, Senior Associate Katie Townley makes her podcast debut with a discussion of promotions. Katie provides this Taylor Swift contest as an example of how things can go wrong.
For additional information on promotions and other issues, visit the Advertising and Privacy Law Resource Center
This month, AutoZone agreed to pay almost $50 million to settle a class action over changes the company made to its loyalty program.
According to the complaint, AutoZone promised consumers that they would receive a credit for every purchase of over $20, and that once they accumulated five 
credits, they would receive a $20 reward.
In 2014, Anheuser-Busch ran a contest on Facebook in which consumers were invited to submit photos of themselves “acting natural.” The contest rules stated that entrants could only submit their original works, and that the photos could not infringe anyone else’s copyrights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other rights. Moreover, the rules stated that entrants
iHeartMedia has agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve allegations that the company sent unsolicited text messages to radio station listeners, in 
violation of the TCPA. According to the complaint, the company would invite listeners to send text messages in order to request songs or enter contests. Listeners who submitted requests or entries would receive
In 2012, the FTC sponsored a contest in which it invited contestants to submit their best solutions to block robocalls. After reviewing almost 800 entries, the FTC announced two winners. As we posted previously, though, one of the losing entrants sued the FTC, alleging that the agency hadn’t followed its rules. This week, the
