An independent ad-industry watchdog is recommending that T-Mobile stop making claims that its 4G LTE network is the fastest, or that its network is “newer” than Verizon. [More]
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Just Because Your Electric Toothbrush Makes A Lot Of Noise Doesn’t Mean It’s Effective
By 4.26.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Much like the never-ending game of oneupmanship in the razor industry, makers of toothbrushes are constantly touting unique features that promise to make your teeth that much whiter and brighter than the competition. But now one ad industry watchdog is calling foul on a commercial that implies a noisy toothbrush is somehow more effective at cleaning your chompers. [More]
Comcast To Discontinue Some Ads That Take Aim At DirecTV
By 4.4.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Seven months after Comcast was warned by an ad watchdog to check itself before wrecking itself when it came to badmouthing DirectTV, the same organization has recommended that the cable behemoth discontinue ads that allegedly exaggerate its rival’s problem with satellite signal interruptions. [More]
Wegmans Changes Price-Comparison Signs After Costco Complaint
By 2.27.17
Price-comparison ads at Wegmans will soon be getting a bit of a makeover following an ad watchdog’s suggestion that the grocer modify in-store displays in response to a Costco complaint that the low-cost price comparisons were misleading and false. [More]
Ad Watchdog Weighs In On Jelly Beans “Clinically Proven” To Improve Sports Performance
By 2.6.17 — Updated: 2.14.17
Jelly beans are delicious, but can they help athletes power through endurance events better than any other random piece of candy? Jelly Belly markets a line of “Sport Beans,” claiming that they’re a better source of energy than gels or sports drinks, and that their superiority has been “clinically proven.” Even if that’s true, should candy be advertised that way? [More]
Ad Self-Regulation Body Refers Sprint’s ‘50% Off’ Campaign To FCC
By 8.22.16
It’s really hard to get complex ideas across during a 30-second television commercial. However, the National Adverting Division, which investigates ad claims for the industry’s self-regulation body, says that Sprint still isn’t really getting across the subtleties of its promotions for new customers switching from other carriers, and has referred the ads to the Federal Communications Commission. [More]
Ad Watchdog: Sprint Should Clarify What ‘50% Off Your Bill’ Really Means
By 6.3.16
The National Ad Division is a program of the Council of Better Business Bureaus that investigates claims of misleading or otherwise problematic ads. Complaints typically come from an advertiser’s competition, and recently T-Mobile spoke up about Sprint’s marketing that promises to cut customers’ bills in half, or give them 50% off. The watchdog agreed that the claim made in ads is not, strictly speaking, true. [More]
Ad Watchdog Intervenes In Dispute Between Campbell’s And Progresso Over Local NJ Ingredients
By 4.6.16
Does Progresso soup come from an agrarian paradise where all of the ingredients are locally harvested and lovingly stirred into small batches of fresh, tasty soup? Not really, no, except for the “tasty” part. Progresso, owned by General Mills, has a series of ads airing that feature this faux-farmer’s market back story, and their national canned soup competitor Campbell’s isn’t buying this back story. Campbell’s took their issue with the spot to the ad industry’s self-regulation mechanism to sort out their differences. [More]
Ad Watchdog Recommends DirecTV Cease 4K Claims
By 12.9.15
AT&T may already be killing off the DirecTV name, but that doesn’t mean its recently acquired pay-TV brand doesn’t have to answer for its possibly misleading advertisements. As such, a national ad review board has directed the company – at the behest of Charter Communications – to discontinue claims made in its “Hannah and Her Horse” campaign that suggests all of its programming is available via 4K technology. [More]
Ad Watchdog: Company Defiantly Still Selling Crown-Festooned Danish Butter Cookies From Indonesia
By 11.19.15
You might remember a case from this past spring where two companies took their dispute over the inherent Danishness of Danish butter cookies to the advertising industry’s self-regulation body, the National Ad Division. The NAD told cookie brand Danisa that they needed to cut back on the Danish imagery on their tins, since the cookies actually come from Indonesia. [More]
Regulators Won’t Investigate Claims That Walmart’s “Raise In Pay” Commercial Is Misleading
By 9.22.15
Federal regulators won’t investigate a Walmart television advertisement two months after an ad review board found the retailer might have misled TV viewers about recent changes in pay for Walmart workers. [More]
Appeals Panel Hands Second Loss To DirecTV Over Rob Lowe Ads
By 8.14.15
Four months after an ad review board, acting on a complaint from Comcast, recommended DirecTV pull its quirky promotions featuring Rob Lowe and a parade of peculiar alter-egos, a review panel upheld the original findings that some of the spots contain unsubstantiated claims — despite the fact the ads are “very funny.” [More]
Following Complaint From Comcast, Ad Board Recommends DirecTV Discontinue Rob Lowe Ads
By 4.7.15
If you’ve been near a TV in the last six months (and don’t fast forward through every commercial break), then you’ve likely seen the quirky DirecTV ads featuring Rob Lowe and a parade of kooky alter-egos. How much longer you’ll see those spots is up for debate after an ad review board, acting on a complaint from Comcast, found many of DirecTV’s claims to be unsubstantiated and recommended the company pull the promotions. [More]
Ad Watchdog Says Sprint Should Stop Calling Itself ‘New’ And ‘Improved’
By 3.3.15
Is Sprint really the U.S. carrier with an all-new network infrastructure and the most improved customer service in the industry? Their ads would have you think so, but competitor T-Mobile complained to the self-regulating watchdogs over at the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Here’s what they found out after investigating the claims that Sprint makes in its ads. [More]
Ad Watchdog Group To Comcast: Stop Saying Stuff That Isn’t True In Your Ads
By 1.28.15
Comcast, like every other company on earth, likes to advertise about how great they are. They run commercials all over about how their internet is better, faster, stronger than the next guy’s. Except, a business group that checks in on badvertising says, Comcast isn’t really as great as Comcast claims it is, and needs to tone it down a bit. [More]
Procter & Gamble Will Stop Hating On Brooms So Much In Ads
By 1.14.15
The pitch for Procter & Gamble’s Swiffer floor-cleaning products is that they’re easier to use and more effective than brooms and mops. That may be the case, but a competitor has some issues with current Swiffer ads bragging that the brand’s sweepers are [up to] three times more effective than a broom at picking up dirt, dust, and hair. That competitor: a broom company. [More]
Nine "Laws" That Advertisers Try Not To Break
By 3.8.11
Something fishy about that late-night ad for the new device that chops, slaps, snuggles and absorbs all stains — all for just $19.95 plus shipping and handling? Turns out the ad may not be illegal, but could still run afoul of the standards of the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, a sort of industry star chamber that warns advertisers when they’ve gone too far. [More]
