The National Advertising Division (“NAD”) serves as a self-regulatory forum for businesses to review advertising claims that are allegedly false or misleading without proceeding to court. As they rely on FTC precedent, NAD decisions can serve as a touchstone to determine trends in advertising law generally. Below is an overview of recent themes and major decisions by the NAD.Continue Reading National Advertising Division Updates
On October 8, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) settled its charges against mattress company Resident Home LLC and its owner for allegedly making unsubstantiated claims that DreamCloud mattress’ are “proudly made with 100 percent USA-made premium quality materials.” In reality, the DreamCloud mattresses are finished abroad, and in some cases, they are completely imported or contain significant imported materials.
Continue Reading The FTC Settles “Made in USA” Case for $753,000 After New Rule Goes Into Effect
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Advertising and Marketing & Privacy and Security
On July 1, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) finalized a new Made in USA labeling rule that becomes effective August 13, 2021. The new rule codifies the FTC’s “all or virtually all” standard for unqualified “Made in USA” claims. The rule is intended to “crack down on marketers who make false, unqualified claims that
Promotional products seller Gennex Media LLC and its owner, Akil Kurji, have settled Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) charges that they made false, misleading, or unsupported advertising claims that their “Brandnex” customizable promotional products were “all or virtually all” made in the United States. Despite numerous claims that the company’s novelty items were “Made in the USA,” “USA Made,” and “Manufactured Right Here in America!”, the items were wholly imported from China.
The settlement requires Gennex and Kurji to pay the FTC a monetary judgment of $146,249.24. In addition to the payment, the parties are required to follow post-settlement remediation measures. Some of these measures include: (1) providing customer information to the FTC in order to ensure proper customer redress; (2) submitting compliance reports to the FTC one year post-settlement; and (3) maintaining certain business records for five years.
Continue Reading Made in USA Settlement for Chinese Imports