Commercial Co-Ventures: What You Need to Know During a Pandemic
This piece will review important issues when running a commercial co-venture (CCV) during a time of a global pandemic. Filing Requirements: The six registration states (AL, HI, IL, MA, MS, and SC) have not amended their filing rules or deadlines in response to the global pandemic. In addition, these...
Help! My Sweepstakes is Caught in a Pandemic
Forfeit prizes, cancellation, deadlines, termination, Stores closed, goods sold, how do we get through? Test kits, verification, new prizes, isolation, Entry dates, end dates, what can we do? TV ads, full disclosure, vaccines, when’s it over? Face masks, pick a winner, no more going out to dinner Social distance...
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...
The Year in Lawsuits
2018 brought us the type of lawsuits you would expect in the world of sweepstakes, contests and giveaways. From "The Annoyance Lawyer" to Bobbleheads to "You're Probably Never Going to Be A Winner." The most depressing thing is the lawsuits themselves, often filled with either corrupt sponsors or litigious...
New York AG Gives No Stars to Fake Online Reviews
On November 2, 2018, the New York Attorney General came crashing down on a number of moving services that paid for at least 60 fake positive online reviews posted under the heading "CHECK OUT OUR REVIEWS POSTED BY CUSTOMERS JUST LIKE YOU." As a result, the only checking being...
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...
Dilly! Dilly! Is Giving Away Free Beer so Silly?
Every beer drinking football fan in Cleveland knows by now that there will be magic beer fridges stationed throughout Cleveland that will miraculously open to produce bottles of free Bud Light if the football gods see fit to allow the Browns to win a football game this year. At...
Mayor McCheese Catches the Hamburglar (A Look at the Instant Win Games Scams)
You're offered a $1 million game piece for $40,000 dollars. What do you do? As you might expect, this may be an offer you can't refuse. A recent and very comprehensive article in the Daily Beast , provides an in-depth look at how the history of McDonald's Monopoly Game...
Recent Settlement Highlights Charity's Duties in Commercial Co-Ventures
Recently, an Agreed Final Judgment was entered in Tennessee state court following an action by the Tennessee Attorney General (in conjunction with the AGs of 16 other states) against a TN charity concerning issues raised over a commercial co-venture program involving donations for teddy bears purchased to provide care...
Pandamonium Over a Promotion: What to do When Your Promotion is Too Popular
Over the years there have been a number of promotions that just exploded beyond a brand's expectations. In 2009, Oprah decided to treat the whole Internet to two pieces of KFC's new Kentucky Grilled Chicken by promoting a coupon redeemable at participating restaurants. Lines snaked out the doors and...
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...
Don't Tax My Bobblehead! Sales Tax on Promotional Items
Bobblehead: "A figurine with a disproportionately large head mounted on a spring so that it bobs up and down, often made as a caricature of a famous person." Giveaway: "A thing that is given free, especially for promotional purposes." Sales tax: "The portion of the purchase price typically forgotten...
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...
Take That Down: Recent Lawsuit on Negative Reviews
"Beer: The cause and solution to all of life's problems." Mr. Homer J. Simpson would love the recent case of a Massachusetts craft beer company that has been trying in federal court to get the employment website Glassdoor to turn the taps off and take down negative reviews about...
Daily Fantasy Sports is a Skill Game, We Have a Study to Prove It
As the esteemed Secretary of Defense under two presidents has said: Reports that say something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we...
Daily Fantasy Sports, A Supreme Decision
On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional – meaning it's up to the states to decide whether to allow its residents to bet on sports. This may portend big changes to Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). In...
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...
Poetry in Motion: High School Student/Immigrant Allowed to Participate in Contest Even When Excluded from Eligibility
On April 20, 2018, Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. of the US District Court of Maine issued a well-reasoned 39 page decision granting an injunction against the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) from prohibiting a high school student from Zambia, seeking asylum in the US, from participating in...
How Will The General Data Protection Regulation Affect Your Sweepstakes Across the Pond
As was made pretty clear last week from the 1,400 hours of Congressional testimony by Mark Zuckerberg, the USA may want to follow the lead of the EU and adopt laws similar to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For now, if you are running a sweepstakes or contest...
Win Tickets to Opening Day, But How Do I Get There?
Today (March 29 th) is baseball's opening day – the earliest opening day in history. If you're going to the Yankees' opener in Toronto, wear your ski caps it's going to be 9 degrees Celsius – which sounds cold. I bring up baseball because I noticed on mlb.com that...
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...
New New York Federal Court Ruling Not in Bed with Ninth Circuit on Embedding Issue
Alert to Businesses Who Link or Embed Copyrighted Content on their Website or Social Media Embedding or "on-line linking" has been considered an accepted method of posting others' copyrighted material. Get the content directly from the third-party server, skip putting it on your server, and all's good. In fact...
What Do You Need to Know about Commercial Co-Ventures?
Join me this Friday, February 16, from 1:00 to 2:30pm to learn the specific legal issues that are arising within commercial co-venture campaigns. With many companies today engaged in cause marketing, including commercial co-ventures in which a portion of their sales are donated to charity, it is important to...
Order to Show Cause to Provide Feedback on This Blog
----------------------------------------------------------------- In re the Application of ROB LAPLACA, d/b/a www.YouMightBeaWinner.com: Petitioner ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUPERIOR COURT OF THE BLOGOSPHERE JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF LEGAL BLOGS ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THIS BLOG WHEREAS, this blog (the "Blog") started in 2016 and has had (surprisingly) a good number of readers...
The 2018 Most Interesting Super Contests for the Super Bowl
The noted football lover, Karl Lagerfeld, once said, "Clear thinking at the wrong moment can stifle creativity." (This coming from a man who has dressed in the same outfit for 50 years.) This year, the marketers have thrown away the playbooks, sidestepped clear thinking and used Bill Belichik-like creativity...
A Post Guaranteed to Give a Lesson on Money Back Guarantees (or Your Money Back)
Ever hear of the "Trial Mark"? In 1869, for his home brewed medicinal products J.R. Watkins created bottles that included an embossed "Trial Mark." Mr. Watkins sold his products door-to-door and offered the first Money Back Guarantee to consumers, provided their use of the product did not extend beyond...
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