Episode 10 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2,is now available. Listen to “Understanding False Advertising Claims, Part 2: The National Advertising Division” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.
The National Advertising Division (NAD) is part of the BBB National Programs. Its mandate is to “hold national advertising
Episode 7 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2,is now available. Listen to “Marketing to Children” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.
When marketing to children under 13, there are heightened requirements that go beyond standard truth in advertising practices. The basic idea behind these requirements is that children have a difficult time understanding that they are being given a sales pitch and distinguishing between reality and fantasy.
In this episode, Venable partner Melissa Steinman and associate Shannon Sansom discuss some best practices that companies should keep in mind when building promotions and campaigns targeted at children.Continue Reading Listen to Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show Podcast – “Marketing to Children”
Episode 5 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2,is now available. Listen to “Litigation Trends in Privacy Laws” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.
Data breaches, cookie banners, chatbots, pixel tracking, and biometrics are just some of the trends in privacy law that are keeping litigators busy. Many technologies that are necessary to operate a website have become hot areas of litigation. But there are more trends, and more questions.
In this episode, Venable partner Jean-Paul Cart discusses the states that are considering new consumer protection legislation, other technologies that are being targeted by plaintiffs, and what your business can be doing to be prepared.Continue Reading Listen to Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show Podcast – “Litigation Trends in Privacy Laws”
Join us as we spotlight select chapters of Venable’s popular Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate the legal risk of campaigns and promotions. Click here to download the entire Tool Kit, and tune in to the Ad Law Tool Kit Show podcast, to hear the authors of this chapter dive deeper into the issue of green claims in this week’s episode.
Protecting the planet against climate change is a social movement—and big business. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued detailed and specific guidance for marketers about how to substantiate so-called green claims. Unsubstantiated green claims have been, and will continue to be, an enforcement priority. The FTC has sought comments on updates to the Green Guides, and new Guides are likely to be issued in 2024. State laws have also been passed that regulate specific “green” claims, which regulators have begun aggressively enforcing. Furthermore, plaintiffs’ class action lawyers are focusing on green claims across a variety of industries, from transportation to cosmetics.Continue Reading Green Claims: An Excerpt from the Advertising Law Tool Kit
As we previewed last week, industry and trade groups wasted no time in filing challenges against the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Final Negative Option Rule.
The Michigan Press Association and the National Federation of Independent Businesses filed a petition challenging the rule in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, while a separate petition was filed by multiple trade associations in the Fifth Circuit. Both cases have asked federal courts of appeals to determine whether the FTC’s issuance of the rule exceeded the agency’s authority and if the FTC’s processes were arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion under the Administrative Procedure Act. The petitions also ask the courts to determine if the FTC complied with the agency’s Magnuson-Moss rulemaking requirements, claiming the rule was “unsupported by substantial evidence” and based on determinations that did not allow for consideration of “disputed material facts.”
The petitions request that the courts vacate and set aside the rule. If either petition is granted, the FTC will not be able to enforce its Negative Option Rule.
Additional challenges to the FTC’s Negative Option Rule might continue. And similar challenges against FTC rules have found success; for example, the FTC’s Non-Compete Rule was set aside and ruled unenforceable nationwide. That decision is currently on appeal at the Fifth Circuit.Continue Reading Business Groups Rush to File Federal Court Challenges to the FTC’s Negative Option “Click-to-Cancel” Rule
Episode 4 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2,is now available. Listen to “Green Claims” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.
Protecting the environment and practicing social responsibility not only benefit the planet, but also provide a compelling value proposition. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued detailed guidance for marketers about how to substantiate green claims, and states are increasingly passing laws governing environmental advertising.
In this episode, Venable partner Claudia Lewis discusses how marketers can promote the environmentally conscious aspects of their products while avoiding so-called greenwashing.Continue Reading Listen to Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show Podcast – “Green Claims”
By a 3-2 vote, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its Final Negative Option Rule that covers negative option programs for both consumer and B2B transactions in any media, including online, telephone, print, and in-person. The rule finalizes many of the requirements we previewed last year. Commissioner Melissa Holyoak’s dissent outlines many of the issues that those challenging the legality of the rule are likely to soon raise.
Under the rule, companies selling goods or services with a negative option feature will be prohibited from:
Episode 2 of Venable’s Ad Law Tool Kit Show, Season 2, is now available. Listen to “Email Marketing in the Crosshairs” here, or search for it in your favorite podcast player.
For decades, email marketing has been an important tool that businesses use to reach customers. But in recent years, marketers have had to
Join us as we spotlight select chapters of Venable’s popular Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate the legal risk of campaigns and promotions. Click here to download the entire Tool Kit, and tune in to the Ad Law Tool Kit Show podcast, to hear the authors of this chapter dive deeper into the issue of negative option and continuity marketing in this week’s episode.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, and class action plaintiffs continue to scrutinize negative option and continuity offers. Negative option marketing can include pre-notification negative option plans, continuity programs, automatic renewals, and free-to-pay (or discounted price-to-pay) conversions.Continue Reading Negative Option and Continuity Marketing: An Excerpt from the Advertising Law Tool Kit
This week, California amended its automatic renewal and continuous service offer law (ARL). Key provisions include the addition of “free-to-pay conversions,” consent obligations, misrepresentation prohibitions, request for cancellation procedures, price change notifications, and reminder and recordkeeping requirements. The new law takes effect July 1, 2025.
The law will require “express affirmative consent” for all automatic renewal and continuous service offers. While the ARL provides no definition, class action plaintiffs’ attorneys, the California attorney general (AG), and California’s Automatic Renewal Taskforce (CART) are likely to interpret it similarly to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) definition of “affirmative express consent,” i.e., “freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of an individual consumer’s wishes demonstrating agreement by the individual, such as by an affirmative action, following a clear and conspicuous disclosure to the individual.”Continue Reading California Amends Autorenewal Law, with Stricter Consent Requirements and a “One Save” Rule: Fast VAST Update