Tag Archives: FTC

A Deeper Dive into the FTC’s Proposed Changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Continued Interest in Negative Option Programs

By Daniel Kaufman on May 6, 2022 Posted in FTC

At last week’s public Federal Trade Commission (FTC) meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted for possible changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). Given the intense interest in FTC rulemaking and the important role the TSR plays in FTC enforcement, we thought this warranted a closer look. First off, this is a very different rulemaking process … Continue Reading

What’s Going on at the FTC? New Employee Survey Raises Issues If You Are Engaging with the Agency

By Daniel Kaufman on April 29, 2022 Posted in FTC

A recent survey of FTC employees put forward some interesting numbers. In 2020, FTC staff were asked if their senior leaders “maintain high standards of honesty and integrity” and 87 percent answered positively. In November 2021, the same staff were asked the same question and the positive responses dropped by 34 points to 53 percent. … Continue Reading

The 10th Public Commission Meeting – Talking About Telemarketing, AMG and, Yes, Dream Incubation

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 29, 2022 Posted in FTC

We made it to the 10th public commission meeting. Now, one person who didn’t make it to the meeting today (or at least did not appear on the main screen) was Alvaro Bedoya. We had heard that his confirmation vote to become the fifth commissioner was going to happen this week, but apparently a few … Continue Reading

The FTC’s Website Redesign – Broken Links, Missing Content and Broken Dreams

By Daniel Kaufman on April 19, 2022 Posted in FTC

Whether you are an FTC fan or foe, we can all agree that one of the agency’s crown jewels is its consumer and business education program. For decades, this program has provided information that has helped consumers protect themselves and has provided businesses with important information and guidance to inform their decision making. And probably … Continue Reading

What’s in a Label – Three Takeaways from the FTC’s First Enforcement Action Brought Under the New Made in the USA Rule

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 18, 2022 Posted in FTC

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a new rule (Rule) that would allow the agency to seek civil penalties in matters where a company made a false and unqualified Made in the USA (MUSA) claim on product labels. In the rulemaking process, however, the FTC developed a very broad definition of “labels,” which … Continue Reading

Bamboozling Part II: The FTC Brings Back Retro Penalty Offense Letters like Bell Bottoms and Big Hair

By Daniel Kaufman, Amy Ralph Mudge and Randal M. Shaheen on April 12, 2022 Posted in FTC

What do bamboo fabric and green claims have to do with toys, weight loss, car rentals and fur coats? Sounds like the start of a Dad joke, but unfortunately this is no laughing matter. It is the FTC reaching back to bygone eras for help in getting money in its enforcement cases. Much virtual ink … Continue Reading

Bamboozling – Part I: Do Green Claims Require a Life Cycle Analysis?

By Amy Ralph Mudge, Daniel Kaufman and Randal M. Shaheen on April 11, 2022 Posted in FTC

The title of this series is an homage to the great Lesley Fair, who launched and authors many of the best of the FTC’s business blogs and who coined this term in her blog reviewing 2013 cases on the same topic. But we are here today to talk about the most recent settlements involving textiles … Continue Reading

The Rubber Hits the Road to the Tune of $10 Million – FTC and Illinois Sue an Auto Dealership

By Linda A. Goldstein and Daniel Kaufman on April 5, 2022 Posted in FTC

Not many people enjoy sitting in a car dealership spending hours evaluating or making a costly purchase, but it’s far more frustrating when the dealership allegedly engages in practices that face the ire of law enforcement. A recent case announced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is important for many reasons. First, it’s a helpful … 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

Taking a Lesson from the FTC – Reviews and Gag Clauses Emerge as CFPB Issues

By Daniel Kaufman on March 30, 2022 Posted in FTC

We have talked a lot this year about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) focus on reviews, and so far we have seen cases involving review suppression and incentivized reviews, as well as new guidance about how platforms and marketers should handle reviews. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has now staked its claim to … Continue Reading

The 9th Public FTC Meeting – Reporting on Vaping and E-Cigarettes

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on March 18, 2022 Posted in FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a long history of addressing issues involving cigarettes and tobacco, often in the advertising context. Indeed, one of us bloggers started at the FTC in 1998, and the first case he worked on was the agency’s litigation against R.J. Reynolds. That case alleged that the company’s use of the … Continue Reading

No Time to Weight and Watch for Children’s Data Compliance

By Daniel Kaufman and Michael Ingram on March 10, 2022 Posted in FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently settled with Weight Watchers (WW) and its subsidiary Kurbo for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA requires websites, apps and other online services to obtain express parental consent prior to collecting, using or disclosing personal information of children under 13. It is a complex … Continue Reading

You Do Have Time for This – the New Wave of FTC Rulemaking

By Daniel Kaufman on March 8, 2022 Posted in FTC

The wave of Federal Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) rulemaking has begun, and it raises many questions: Most notably, how big is this wave going to be, why is the FTC doing this and do I have time for this? Although there has been a great deal of concern raised about whether and why … Continue Reading

Leveling Up: Advertising to Children Through Video Games

By Carolina Alonso, Michael Ingram and Amy Ralph Mudge on March 7, 2022 Posted in Advertising

Video games have come a long way from the days of Atari’s Pong; today’s games can contain fully immersive worlds complete with brand partnerships. Video game platforms, such as Roblox, which boasts over 100 million active users in its virtual world, can reach swaths of potential brand loyalists. For many companies and brands, video game … Continue Reading

FTC and the States — Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask

By Daniel Kaufman and Victoria Weatherford on March 3, 2022 Posted in FTC

A lot has been written about the impact of the Supreme Court’s AMG decision on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) future law enforcement approaches and strategies. One option is more administrative litigation, but that process can take many years and requires the FTC to demonstrate that the challenged practices were “dishonest or fraudulent.” Another option … Continue Reading

Look Back, Look Ahead: State Attorneys General Enforcement – Part Two

By Craig A. Hoffman, Victoria Weatherford and Jeffrey Zohn on March 2, 2022 Posted in State Attorneys General

Last month, as part of BakerHostetler’s “Look Back, Look Ahead: Advertising and Marketing Law in 2021 & 2022” webinar series, partners Craig A. Hoffman and Victoria Weatherford presented on recent trends and predictions on state attorney general enforcement. The following summarizes our 10 predictions for state attorneys general enforcement in 2022. Prediction No. 1: Upcoming … Continue Reading

Look Back, Look Ahead: State Attorneys General Enforcement – Part One

By Victoria Weatherford, Craig A. Hoffman and Jeffrey Zohn on March 1, 2022 Posted in State Attorneys General

Last month, as part of BakerHostetler’s “Look Back, Look Ahead: Advertising and Marketing Law in 2021 & 2022” webinar series, partners Craig A. Hoffman and Victoria Weatherford presented on recent trends and predictions on state attorney general enforcement. The following summarizes our 10 key takeaways from 2021. Takeaway No. 1: Biden Transition Shifts Attorneys General … Continue Reading

A Return to Substance: The 8th Public Commission Meeting Kicks Off Yet Another Mag-Moss Rulemaking

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on February 18, 2022 Posted in FTC

Having recovered from the exceedingly lackluster seventh Federal Trade Commission (FTC) meeting, the two-hour eighth meeting had actual votes and a bit of drama. But be careful what you ask for. We highlighted the lack of consumer turnout at the last meeting, and that was certainly not the case this month – even members of … Continue Reading

The Shifting Post-AMG Landscape – Changes to the FTC Approach to Law Enforcement

By Daniel Kaufman on February 15, 2022 Posted in FTC

Ten months ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in the AMG case, and with this decision, it put an end to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) decadeslong reliance on Section 13(b) of the FTC Act as the primary tool to obtain monetary relief in federal court. It’s impossible to overstate the significance … Continue Reading

A Timely Federal Reminder that Love Stinks – Romance Scams with a Crypto Twist

By Daniel Kaufman on February 14, 2022 Posted in FTC

For many years now, each February, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a report reminding us that love is indeed a battlefield and that life is not always like an episode of Hart to Hart. The latest FTC data about romance scams states that the dollars (not including heartache) lost to online romance scammers … Continue Reading

The FTC Administrative Process: Get Prepared for an Extended Engagement

By Daniel Kaufman on February 10, 2022 Posted in FTC

One of the post-AMG predictions about Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) law enforcement is that we will see more administrative litigation. And that appears to be coming true, but not at an exceptional pace. For the past few decades, FTC administrative litigation of consumer protection matters has been quite rare, but until recently, there … Continue Reading

FTC Issues Guidance on Use of Consumer Reviews: Brands, Platforms and Comparison Websites Are in the Hot Seat

By Linda A. Goldstein on February 8, 2022 Posted in Advertising, FTC

The use of consumer reviews as a marketing strategy has grown exponentially in recent years, and brands have become increasingly reliant on consumer reviews as a marketing strategy to drive consumer purchase behavior. In fact, a recent study by Bright Local revealed that over 85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations … Continue Reading

Made in USA, Part Three – Materials Not Available in the US

By Randal M. Shaheen and Amy Ralph Mudge on February 7, 2022 Posted in Advertising, FTC

This is our third blog in a series that is examining potential ambiguities in the Federal Trade Commission’s (Commission) Made in USA (MUSA) guidance – ambiguities that become particularly more important now that MUSA claims in labeling are the subject of a new Commission, the violation of which can lead to civil penalties. Suppose a … Continue Reading

All Eyes on Us – the Latest FTC Case Involves Contact Lenses plus an Important Lesson About Incentivized Reviews

By Daniel Kaufman on January 31, 2022 Posted in FTC

Up until now, most of the FTC’s law enforcement involving the Contact Lens Rule (Rule) has focused on sellers of cosmetic or decorative lenses. Indeed, safety concerns about decorative lenses were newsworthy in 2010, when Lady Gaga appeared in her Bad Romance video with “cartoonishly large eyes.” But the agency just announced a case against … Continue Reading