The Advertising Law Blog provides commentary and news on developing legal issues in advertising, promotional marketing, Internet, and privacy law. This blog is sponsored by the Advertising, Marketing & Promotions group at Olshan. The practice is geared to servicing the needs of the advertising, promotional marketing, and digital industries with a commitment to providing personal, efficient and effective legal service.
On February 25, 2010, the FTC announced a settlement with ControlScan, a company that certifies the privacy and security of online retailers, over charges of misleading consumers. According to the FTC's release, ControlScan's seals promised consumers that it had reviewed sites' information security practices, although ControlScan performed "little or no verification" of the sites' protections.
Manufacturers, distributors and retailers of dietary supplements have become the target of new legislation proposed by Senator McCain and co-sponsored by Senator Dorgan. S.3002, The Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2010, is currently pending before the United States Senate.
On April 8, 2010, Andrew Lustigman will Speak at the American Bar Association's 25th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference: "Texting, Toggling, Tagging, Tweeting: Copyright, Trademark and Advertising in New Media" in Arlington, VA .
As we previously reported the FTC has placed pressure on behavioral marketers to self-regulate or face regulation. Under this threat, a broad coalition of advertising associations moved forward on establishing an easily identifiable icon and plain language in a disclosure statement that will be linked to the icon.
A distributor of pure pomegranate juice sued a competitor company alleging that ads which claimed their juice was "100%" pure pomegranate juice with "no sugar added" were false.
In December 2009, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), a consortium of media and technology companies leading the online advertising market, joined with the Association of American Advertising Agencies (4As) in releasing Version 3.0 of their Standard Terms and Conditions for Internet Advertising for Media Buys One Year or Less.
On January 27, 2010 the New York Attorney General announced that his office was investigating 22 popular online businesses that linked consumers to fee-based membership programs that charged "unauthorized" fees under the "guise" of discount offers.
Many marketers may be in favor of the proposed Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) recently passed by the House in December 2009 and currently before the Senate because the bill seeks to address elements which caused the current financial crisis.
When it comes to the rules of advertising, many remain confused by the legal doctrine that while a statement can be literally true, it still can be considered false or deceptive.
In a recent administrative opinion, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rejected a defense that the marketing of dietary supplement products within FDA so-called structure and function claims, precluded enforcement by the FTC of deceptive health claims.
On February 10, 2010, Andrew Lustigman will participate at DMA's Mobile Marketing Day 2010 in New York as a panelist presenting on the "Legal Do's and Don'ts of Mobile Marketing".
The New York Attorney General has sued not just the marketer, but the finance company that processed the contracts company to recover for alleged false advertising by marketer, even though the finance company was not alleged to have been involved in active wrongdoing.