This edition of Greenberg Traurig’s Consumer Compass highlights the pivotal shifts and emerging trends impacting the consumer products industry. Inside, we provide timely legal updates, strategic insights, and essential developments—curated to help empower business decisions and keep stakeholders informed in a rapidly changing market. Go North for regulatory updates; East for emerging risks; South for
On March 6, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly issued seven warning letters to companies making alleged unauthorized claims related to the prevention or treatment of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition to issuing the joint warning letters, the FDA issued a press release announcing the
In January 2015, we reported that California’s law on advertising “Made in USA” claims, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17533.7, had been interpreted as imposing a stricter standard than guidelines adopted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the same issue. Specifically, the California law had been interpreted to require that 100 percent of
Greenberg Traurig Attorneys Irving Scher and Ed Chansky authored an GT Alert, “Price Advertising Claims Make a Comeback – As Class Actions”
The minimal regulatory enforcement in recent years may have led some retailers to let down their guard in complying with some of the more stringent state regulatory requirements dealing with price advertising.
Our Greenberg Traurig colleagues, Ed Chansky and Irving Scher, recently prepared a GT Client Advisory discussing the enforcement of inadequate negative option/automatic-renewal disclosures and the requirements for companies to be compliant with state and federal laws. Negative options, as defined by the FTC, are commercial transactions in which sellers interpret a customer’s failure to
With summer around the corner, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reminding publishers, broadcasters, and other media of the ways to spot phony weight-loss claims when screening ads for publication. The reissued guidance entitled, “Gut Check: A Reference Guide for Media on Spotting False Weight-Loss Claims,” details seven weight loss claims that the FTC asserts
On October 1, 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a revised version of its “Guides for the Use of Environmental Claims,” better known to many as the “Green Guides,” which describe the types of environmental claims that the FTC may find deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act. Recently, Jessica Rich, Director of
The FTC recently announced that it is stepping up enforcement against companies selling quick-fix weight-loss products. GT Shareholder, Justin Prochnow, highlights the risks created by the FTC’s initiative:
While the FTC has always scrutinized weight-loss claims, these actions indicate that the FTC intends to continue putting pressure on marketers and advertisers of weight-loss
GT Shareholder Irv Scher authored a client alert regarding a recent FTC enforcement action involving product demonstrations.
The case involved advertising for a truck shown pushing a dune buggy up a steep hill, something the truck allegedly was not capable of doing. The FTC sued and won a settlement in which the advertiser is