To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day this week, we look at the increasingly pressing topic of green marketing in the fashion industry. Recent studies have shown that environmentally conscious consumers continue to grow in number and demand products that have a reduced effect on the environment. To meet this demand and as

Christie Grymes Thompson
FTC Delivers $9.3 M Reminder About Mail Order Rule
Yesterday, the FTC announced that online retailer Fashion Nova had agreed to pay a record $9.3 million to settle charges that it violated the Mail Order Rule by failing to properly notify customers and give them the chance to cancel their orders when the company couldn’t ship items on time, and that it unlawfully used…
Ad Law Access Podcast: Guidance for Retailers
As retailers have shifted to online and ship to store/ship from store sales, we’ve been getting a variety of questions from our retailing clients.
On the latest episode of the Ad Law Access Podcast, Advertising and Marketing chair Christie Grymes Thompson and partner Kristi Wolff answer retailer questions regarding pricing, shipping, refunds, customer reviews, and…
Challenges Shipping on Time Because of COVID-19? What You Should Know about the FTC’s Mail Order Rule
As localities order people to stay at home and non-essential businesses to close, consumers are turning to online options. Although you might welcome the traffic, you might also be facing unexpected challenges like a reduced work force, supply chain disruptions, manufacturing shifts from regular inventory to medical necessities, and other hurdles that can cause shipping…
“Puerto Rico’s Favorite Pasta” Is Not NARB’s “Favorite” Claim Without Substantiation
The National Advertising Review Board (“NARB”) recently upheld an NAD decision regarding Goya Foods, Inc.’s claim, “La Pasta Favorita de Puerto Rico” or “Puerto Rico’s Favorite Pasta,” finding that the claim was not puffery and that it required substantiation. As we summarized here, NAD previously determined that use of the term “favorite”…
Ad Law Access Podcast: Cause Marketing – Commercial Co-Ventures: What You Need to Know Before Getting Started
Consumers increasingly want to feel good about their buying decisions and like-minded companies often look for ways to communicate how they align with consumers in the marketplace through “cause marketing.”
Advertising and Marketing and Consumer Product Safety practice groups chair Christie Grymes Thompson covers a specific type of cause marketing – the commercial co-venture (CCV)…

Nixing the Fix: Recap of FTC Workshop on Product Repair Restrictions
Make a product that could break? On July 16, 2019, the FTC hosted a workshop to examine repair restrictions on consumer goods and the “Right to Repair” bills proposed in a number of states. Panelists included representatives from trade associations, the repair and technology industries, and state senators. The Nixing the Fix workshop discussed some …
House Committee on Energy and Commerce Has Questions for the CPSC
Asserting the authority to oversee the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Chair of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, have requested information from the Commission concerning the CPSC’s workload and its dealings with the public with regard to consumer…
Avoid a Misstep with Qualified “Made in USA” Claims: Class Action Against New Balance Leads to Proposed $750,000 Settlement
Most of our posts regarding “Made in USA” claims relate to FTC investigations and enforcement actions. Private plaintiffs, however, also closely watch those claims. For example, in 2018 plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against New Balance Athletics Inc. challenging qualified “Made in USA” claims. Although the plaintiffs acknowledged that New Balance qualified the claim…
Pushing the Limits: Preliminary Settlement Entered in Case Against Banana Republic and The Gap after California Court of Appeals Failed to Find Limits on Injury
On January 14, Plaintiffs in the consolidated case of Veera v. Banana Republic, LLC, et al., filed for approval of a preliminary class action settlement after Plaintiffs Veera and Etman successfully argued that “frustration” and “embarrassment” over unclear discounts is sufficient to meet the requirements for injury.
According to separate lawsuits filed against Banana Republic…