Category: Advertising
Happy New Year! Now You Have to Worry About Abbreviating "2020"
I came across an interesting article in USA Today about how it’s really easy for miscreants to change the dates on documents abbreviating the New Year as “20.” For instance, say your “free” offer “Ends 1/2/20.” Some hacker may be able to change the date to: “Ends 1/2/2021” or...
I Catch the Fish, You Cook the Fish, The Only Time We're Together is When We Eat the Fish: Banning Gender Stereotypes in Ads
Women in the kitchen and men in the wilderness. An ad concept as old as time. But has its time come? The U.S. has traditionally taken a hands-off approach to regulating "traditional" gender-stereotyping in ads. But this week, the U.K. has said enough is enough. Apt for Father's Day...
What’s the Straight Dope on Marijuana Promotions?
Prop 215 was enacted in California twenty-two years today on November 5, 1996. This law was the first of its kind in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana use. Since then 30 states have approved medical marijuana use and 9 have legalized recreational marijuana. Maybe a long timing coming...
Does That Avatar Really Like That Brand? The FTC Endorsement Guidelines in the New Age of Virtual Influencers
Meet Lil' Miquela. She has 1.2 million Instagram followers: She's modeled such famous brands as Diesel, Versace, Fendi and Chanel. In March, she appeared in a fashion spread in V Magazine as "The Face of New Age Logomania." Last month she talked her audience through the latest GIF sets...
IGTV – Instagram's New YouTube
Online videos are powerful marketing tools. We've all been there when you watch one video on your phone and suddenly realize you've wasted hours watching clips of a dog skateboarding, a step-by-step tutorial on making a unicorn cake, and your favorite celebrity's appearance on a talk show. While video...
Things That Make You Go Hmmmm
Commercial Co-Ventures and Sweepstakes Promotions Remember that song in the '90s from the C+C Music Factory called "Things That Make You Go Hmmm…." I guess I did when I came across some recent promotions. Perhaps these practice tips will stay with you longer than C+C's 15 minutes of fame...
You May Be A Loser (Does the Recent Publishers Clearing House Class Action Lawsuit Portend Changes in Sweepstakes Law?)
On April 23, 2018, 13 disgruntled senior citizens, led by a retired and disabled veteran who for seven years purchased hundreds of items from Publishers Clearing House (PCH) believing this would increase his chance of winning the PCH Sweepstakes, sued PCH in federal court in New York claiming PCH...
How Can They Do That? A Question Many Commercial Co-Venturers Love to Ask
Advertising lawyers when giving advice to clients on promotional programs and advertising disclosures are always asked by their clients, why must we do it that way when XYZ company isn't? The answer is usually somewhere between I don't know why XYZ company is doing it that way and XYZ...
Opening Day Edition: Beer Advertising and Sports
Today (March 29) is baseball's opening day and beer and baseball are in the news. The New York Yankees appear to be in trouble for their new " Pinstripe Pilsner " which has an image of your favorite Yankee player in the foam. But those of you wanting to...
Are We Saying Goodbye to the Beer Babe?
The #MeToo movement has produced constant headlines and has helped positively change corporate culture. Is it possible for its breadth to include beer ads? Sexist beer ads have traditionally been the norm. Give a scantily clad gal a beer bottle, have her hold it to the camera, give a...
FTC 2017: Consumer Protection Year in Review (aka. If you do it, we'll catch you)
The FTC put out its consumer protection year in review providing a comprehensive list of significant consumer protection developments in 2017. Let us indulge you with a recap of a few illustrative actions affecting the promotion world. "Free" Samples In October 2017, the FTC charged A1 Janitorial Supply Corp...
Commercial Co-venture Registration: Things You Should Know
When embarking on your first foray into commercial co-venture land, you may have learned that a commercial co-venturer has to register in six states. But how much do you know about what that entails? Here's a primer: ALABAMA (Ala. Code § 13A-9-70) See here Annual registration: 1. Complete the...
Why Are Ad Men Called Mad Men? Is It Because They Can Get Sued?
We all know that the first ad agency was created by William Taylor in 1786 perhaps to help sell the recently invented threshing machine to those farmers sick and tired of separating Recently, ad agencies have come under fire for a number of reasons: Days ago, Uber sued its...
“You Are [NOT] a Winner” Consent Order Entered Against Printer/Mailer of Deceptive Prize Notifications
On February 9, 2017, a consent order was entered in favor of the FTC against the general manager of a company engaged to procure printing and mailing of deceptive prize notifications. The individual got laminated for $800,000 (subject to reduction). The lesson: anyone involved with deceptive prize/sweepstakes/contests mailings could...
Should Influencers Influence Cause Marketing?
To use or not to use a popular marketing tool? That is the question. Shakespeare, himself, opted for a popular marketing tool when he cast the famous tragedian, Richard Burbage, for the part of Hamlet. This was probably a good idea, since according to Wikipedia, the play "has been...
2016: The Year in Review
In case you missed it, here are some notable items from 2016 concerning sweepstakes, contests, and related promotional matters: Influencers, Native Advertising, and Endorsements 2016 kicked off with reaction to the FTC's new Native Advertising Rules which seek more transparency in sponsored stories/advertising. In March, in its first enforcement...
Throw Back Thursday Edition: Vintage Sweepstakes and Contest Ads, How Far We've Come
First, a short history lesson. The term "sweepstakes" dates back to the 15 th century in reference to a common game where everyone placed a "stake" and the winner "swept" up all of the stakes when he won. And how about this – the term "sweepstakes" (or "swoopstake") was...
Condemnation, Litigation, Regulation, Legislation, Congratulation – Are NFL Ratings Down because of The Daily Fantasy Sports Crackdown?
Sports Illustrated recently had an article listing their experts' take on why NFL TV ratings are down an overall 11% from last year . Number 7 on their top 10 list was the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) bans. Should the past year of condemnation, litigation, regulation and legislation lead...
Big Blue Fans Win Big Red Steaks: Promotions That Go Better (?) Than Expected
On Saturday (October 8), the University of Michigan eleven beat Rutgers by the lopsided score of 78-0. I don't know if the Wolverines were fed red meat before the game, but the fans in Ann Arbor are sure lining up for some at the local Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Prior...
Is It Really "The Best [Insert Product] You Ever Bought?" Amazon Limits Incentivized Reviews
When shopping online, we all want to know what lawnmower/backscratcher/egg timer is the best. Once we've found an array of options, many of us go right to the online reviews to see how others liked the product. Caveat emptor be damned, Ralph from Bensonhurst just loved the Handy Housewife...
Playing for Keeps: Daily Fantasy Football 2016
When the last online fantasy football game was played, the attorneys general of New York, Nevada and Illinois were throwing penalty flags, state legislators was huddling to set the next play, and the daily fantasy sports leagues were taking it on the chin. Where are we now? Here's a...
Do You Really Like Me? Native Advertising Enforcement is On the Rise
On July 11, 2016, the FTC announced that it had settled charges against Warner Bros. that it paid online influencers to post positive game play videos for its new a video game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Ed. note: whooo). (Further Ed. Note: I will continue to use the...
Is It "Au Naturale" or "Oh, Not Natural?": FTC Comes Down on 100% Natural Claims
You can buy almost any product that is "all natural" -- skin cream, soap, shampoo, cleaners, grass seed, bug repellent, pet spray, even hair loss treatment. These products go by monikers such as "Pure Naked", "Lush", "ONO", "Nature's Miracle" and many "Dr. so-and-so's". Natural products are certainly not new...
Where'd You Get That Dress? FTC Dresses Down Lord & Taylor Native Advertising
This week the FTC settled charges against Lord & Taylor from alleged deceptive native advertising during its March 2015 Design Lab social media campaign. http://1.usa.gov/22h3sJ7 A big takeaway from this settlement is the FTC's position that a company not only has to comply with the Native Advertising/Endorsement disclosures on...
Cause Marketing Lessons from the Wounded Warrior Project Scandal
Your company just made a major announcement that it is partnering with a charity that you now find is involved in a scandal. What can you do? The recent ousting of The Wounded Warriors Project CEO and COO amid allegations of lavish spending on travel, conferences and public relations...
Did Peyton Manning Go One Pitch Too Far? (Native Advertising at the Super Bowl)
We all know Peyton Manning – he's a professional pitcher: for Papa Johns, DirecTV, Buick, and Gatorade, among others. He's also a professional quarterback. But did his post-Super Bowl pitches for Budweiser and Papa John's go too far. As you may recall loyal followers of this blog, I wrote...
I Said Your Product was Great, Now Gimme a Prize: The FTC Enforces Its Endorsement Guidelines
Yesterday, the FTC settled a deceptive advertising lawsuit against the creators and marketers of the Lumosity "brain training" program . For those of you not smart enough to know, the "brain training" program claimed to not only boost your performance at work or school, but also slow down those...
“All Profits to Charity” – How Much is That? A Brief Commercial Co-venture Lesson
You've heard this sales pitch before. Its cousins are "A percentage of proceeds to charity" and "A portion of the proceeds to charity". Do you really know how much will be donated? The short answer is no. I've read estimates that net profits on a pizza pie are typically...
Show Me the Money - When Taxes Can Turn Your Dream Home Into a Nightmare
It's that time of year again, the 20th annual HGTV Dream Home 2016 Sweepstakes began December 29th. As the sponsor of this promotion has recognized, winning a mansion could put you in the dog house when you are socked with a hefty tax bill. I've written about this issue...
Cause Marketing by the Numbers - What's In It for Me?
There is a common belief that corporations must do everything with an eye to producing profits for shareholders. But that is not so. In fact, in its opinion in the Hobby Lobby case, the U.S. Supreme Court stated: "Modern corporate law does not require for-profit corporations to pursue profit...
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