Archives: Advertising

Can I Run March Madness Promotions? And How Legal Is That Bracket Challenge?

By John P. Ferry on March 15, 2023 Posted in Advertising

March Madness is upon us! Whether you’re filling out multiple brackets or studiously avoiding a certain co-worker because your team missed out, odds are you’re aware the annual men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments are here. But you may also be wondering, how can my business capture the moment in its advertising? The short answer: … Continue Reading

The Federal Trade Commission’s New Health Product Compliance Guidance

By Randal M. Shaheen and Daniel Kaufman on March 13, 2023 Posted in Advertising

Join Randy Shaheen and Daniel Kaufman as they discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s new Health Products Compliance Guidance. During this webinar, they will share their insights about the new Guidance, highlight areas of particular importance for anyone involved in marketing or analyzing health claims, and explain how this new document differs from the agency’s two-decade-old … Continue Reading

NAD Gives Net-Zero Claim a Grade of Zero

By Randal M. Shaheen on February 22, 2023 Posted in Advertising

As consumers have increasingly looked to see whether the companies they do business with have taken steps to benefit the environment, companies have often responded by announcing environmental goals. Why goals? First, a goal of 100 percent carbon emissions reduction by 2040 sounds a whole lot better and loftier than saying last year, we reduced … Continue Reading

Superbowl Ads: Do They Mean the Unemployment Line for Ad Lawyers?

By Amy Ralph Mudge on February 17, 2023 Posted in Advertising

I love the Superbowl. I couldn’t give a toss about football. I am there for the snacks, the snacks and more snacks. And Rihanna (congrats, Mama!). And the ADS! Every year, we ad lawyers measure our worth by how many Superbowl ads we have been asked to opine on. “Which ones are yours, Mom?” my … Continue Reading

Is It Just a Puff?

By Randal M. Shaheen on January 26, 2023 Posted in Advertising

My family knows that I get grumpy if we get to the theater after the previews have started, as previews are among my favorite parts of the in-theater versus stream-from-home experience. Yet many moviegoers may feel that the trailer didn’t accurately reflect the movie as a whole. But does such a feeling of disappointment rise … Continue Reading

Is a Data Clean Room the Answer to Your Privacy Woes?

By Aaron Goodman and R. Bisi Adeyemo on December 22, 2022 Posted in Advertising

As we head into 2023, advertisers, publishers, ad tech companies and others involved in the digital advertising ecosystem are facing significant challenges when it comes to data. It can be overwhelming: five new U.S. state data privacy laws to contend with; a continued regulatory focus in Europe, including a new suite of proposed legislation relating … Continue Reading

17th Public Commission Meeting – The FTC is Finally Seeing Green?

By Amy Ralph Mudge and Daniel Kaufman on December 15, 2022 Posted in Advertising

Nothing says Holiday Season like the final public Federal Trade Commission meeting of the very long year. The lights are hung, joy is sort of in the air and we turn to our four commissioners for even more holiday cheer. Well actually, this week there were just three – Commissioner Wilson was not in attendance … Continue Reading

Now Is Really the Time to Pay Attention to Dark Patterns – Seriously

By Daniel Kaufman and Randal M. Shaheen on December 7, 2022 Posted in Advertising

For months now we have been talking about dark patterns and all the regulatory chatter associated with them. Many, including us, have been wondering whether it would end up being much ado about nothing, with dark patterns just being a new name for practices such as bait and switch that have long been considered unlawful. … Continue Reading

Brought to You by the FTC: Event on Digital Marketing and Blurred Advertising to Kids

By Amy Ralph Mudge and Daniel Kaufman on October 20, 2022 Posted in Advertising, FTC

Amy Mudge and Daniel Kaufman Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hosted an event to look at kids’ digital marketing. Here is a rough transcript; and if you have a spare five hours, you can watch the videos, which will soon be posted on the event page. The big question is whether the FTC will … Continue Reading

Coinbase Decision Highlights Importance of Official Rules’ Dispute Provisions

By Linda A. Goldstein and John P. Ferry on September 19, 2022 Posted in Advertising

In a rare example of a sweepstakes leading to litigation, Coinbase and its promotion agency, Marden-Kane, were sued over a sweepstakes run by Coinbase and administered by Marden-Kane titled “Trade Doge. Win Doge.” As part of that sweepstakes, Coinbase offered prizes totaling $1.2 million of Dogecoin to individuals who purchased or sold $100 worth of … Continue Reading

The Matrix of Guardrails for the Metaverse Grows (Plus Weekend Movie Viewing Recommendations)

By Amy Ralph Mudge and Michael Ingram on August 26, 2022 Posted in Advertising, Digital Media

We are not quite at the Matrix moment of a red pill/blue pill choice yet, but we are moving closer every day to the possibility of a fully immersive virtual world. And the regulators and watchdogs are already thinking about how we can protect the kids when they venture not outside in the real world … Continue Reading

Recent Summary Judgment Decision in FleetCor Case Spells Trouble for CEOs and Disclaimers

By Daniel Kaufman on August 17, 2022 Posted in Advertising, FTC

A recent federal court decision found that FleetCor, a company that sells fuel card services to businesses, and its CEO had violated the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) Act through a series of deceptive and unfair acts and practices. It is not every day that the FTC sues the CEO of a publicly traded … Continue Reading

TINA Issues Warning Letters to Celeb NFT Endorsers

By Lauren Bass and Amy Ralph Mudge on August 16, 2022 Posted in Advertising

From Eminem to Snoop Dog, Tony Hawk to Lionel Messi, William Shatner to Brie Larson, music, sports, and Hollywood celebrities have eagerly jumped on the NFT (non-fungible token) bandwagon. Whether launching their own collections, purchasing an expensive profile pic, or simply endorsing new artists, celebrities have embraced blockchain technology and have been extolling the virtues … Continue Reading

Straight Talk from NAD: Recent Case Outlines when Comparative Claims Must Be Qualified

By Amy Ralph Mudge on August 12, 2022 Posted in Advertising

Sometimes advertising lawyers can be real drama royals. But I do think the latest in the teeth-straightening wars at NAD deserves some attention. I am not yet sure if this signals a new direction for NAD or if this case will be more limited to cases with comparative savings messages. But its recommendation goes beyond … Continue Reading

NAD Cleans Up ‘Doctor Recommended’ Claim for Baby Wipes

By Amy Ralph Mudge on August 12, 2022 Posted in Advertising

It is too early to tell if we have a baby wipes war developing to compete with the diapers wars, but we certainly have had lots of activity this year involving the disposable cleanup cloths. An earlier action focused on the adequacy of the substantiation of a claim that WaterWipes were the “#1 wipe against … Continue Reading

Advertising and Regulation of CBD Products

By Lee H. Rosebush, Randal M. Shaheen, Laura Macherelli and John P. Ferry on August 9, 2022 Posted in Advertising, CBD

If you have been to any kind of spa, beauty supply store or health food store in the past four years, chances are you have seen, if not purchased, a product with cannabidiol (CBD). The 2018 passage of the Farm Bill removed hemp-deprived products, like CBD, from the Controlled Substances Act, leading to a flood … Continue Reading

3 Things to Address in Digital Media Agreements

By Aaron Goodman on August 4, 2022 Posted in Advertising, Digital Media

The ad creative has been produced and approved. The media plan has been crafted. Now it’s time to execute on the plan, and that involves buying the media – i.e., purchasing ad space to place your ads on different media channels (television, print, websites, etc.) so people can see them. Or maybe you’re a publisher … Continue Reading

What Even Is Ad Tech?

By Aaron Goodman on July 26, 2022 Posted in Advertising

“What is ad tech?” That is a question I’ve been asked and have answered numerous times. I recently joined BakerHostetler’s Chicago office in the Digital Assets and Data Management Practice Group after spending almost eight years at Publicis Groupe, where I led a team of attorneys supporting business units focused on media, data and advertising … Continue Reading

The 13th Public Commission Meeting – an AI Study About Online Scams and, Yes, Another Policy Statement

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on June 16, 2022 Posted in Advertising

We spend many of our working hours – and far too many of our nonworking hours – talking about Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) issues, and we can confidently state that no one has ever said to us, “I sure do wish the agency would issue yet another policy statement.” With that, we turn … Continue Reading

Pride Month and the Onslaught of Rainbow Corporate Logos

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on June 3, 2022 Posted in Advertising

Many of us have become accustomed to the fact that every June, with the calendar signaling LGBTQ+ pride month, we get the inevitable onslaught of corporate logos incorporating the colors of the rainbow flag. And at the end of June, the logos revert to their less colorful versions. The cynics among us like to focus … Continue Reading

And Then There Were Five – Commissioner Bedoya Has Arrived

By Daniel Kaufman on May 18, 2022 Posted in Advertising

When a new commissioner arrives at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission), there are some changes to expect as that new person gets up to speed and learns how different it is to be at the FTC versus watching what the Commission does from the outside. But the addition of a new commissioner can … Continue Reading

What Is a PFAS, and Why Should I Care? Part III – California’s Proposition 65

By Ryan Fischbach, Bethany Lukitsch, Matthew Thurlow and Theodore Weiss on May 12, 2022 Posted in Advertising

In Part I and Part II of this blog series, we introduced and discussed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” which have been recent targets of consumer class actions and regulatory enforcement due to their alleged human health risks. As a quick refresher, PFAS includes a class of more than … Continue Reading

The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear BluBlockers – A Walk Through Advertising History

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 4, 2022 Posted in Advertising

The other day, we noticed an article announcing that legendary direct marketer Joe Sugarman had passed away. He had quite a career in the industry but was probably best known for the omnipresent BluBlocker sunglasses that were on heavy rotation in the 1980s and early ’90s. For younger readers, BluBlockers were ultra-cool sunglasses that promised … Continue Reading

What is a PFAS, and Why Should I Care?

By Bethany Lukitsch, Kamran Ahmadian, Julie Singer Brady, Matthew Thurlow and Amy Ralph Mudge on March 9, 2022 Posted in Advertising

We are bombarded with countless abbreviations every day – CPPA, GLBA, MSRP, SARS and BPA, to name just a few. Time to add one more to the list. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, colloquially known as PFAS, are a class of more than 4,700 chemical compounds, the components of which break down very slowly over time. … Continue Reading