Made in USA

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Being able to advertise your product as “Made in the USA” can be a key advantage to marketers and is an attribute that is important to many consumers. Aware of this, the FTC has been on the watch for deceptive Made in the USA claims. Last week, the FTC held a workshop on “Made in the USA” claims to consider consumer perception of these claims and the need for any changes to the existing guidance provided by the FTC.

Current FTC guidance on these claims stems from a 1997 FTC Enforcement Policy Statement in which the FTC concluded consumers are likely to understand an unqualified U.S. origin claim to mean that the advertised product is made in the USA with “all or virtually all” of the components made in the United States.Continue Reading FTC Workshop on “Made in USA” Claims

To kick off this year’s National Advertising Division Annual Conference, Andrew Smith—the FTC’s new Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau—discussed his views on the Commission’s priorities with respect to remedies, privacy and data security, and national advertising cases. Given the backgrounds of the new Commissioners, Director Smith acknowledged that some of them may be…

The ink was barely dry on our Monday blog when a new skirmish broke out (both on Twitter and in official records) in the FTC’s long-brewing remedy wars. This time the battle took place in another unlikely location – three Made in USA settlements.

First to set the scene. The FTC generals announced that they had accepted surrenders from three combatants who were attempting to sell products allegedly mislabeled as Made in USA. In one instance there were hockey pucks, “Patriot Pucks” that were patriotic if you happened to be a citizen of China and that were marketed as “The Only American-Made Hockey Puck.” In another instance, mattresses that were wholly imported from China were labeled as “designed and assembled in the USA.” And finally, backpacks and wallets were sold on websites that claimed to feature “American-Made Products” and the wallets were specifically promoted as “American Made.”Continue Reading FTC Remedy Wars – Part Deux

As we reported a few months ago, the FTC has increased its enforcement of its “Made in USA” requirements – typically through warning letters rather than formal administrative or legal proceedings. This week’s proposed Consent Order against Bollman Hat Company and SaveAnAmericanJob, LLC demonstrates that if companies will not informally agree to corrective action to qualify or discontinue “Made in USA” claims that don’t meet the standard, the FTC will not blink but will go forward to bring a formal enforcement action.

Despite touting its brand as “Made in the USA since 1868” and “Made in in the USA for 100 Years or More,” the FTC alleged that over 70% of Bollman’s hat styles were wholly imported as finished hat products, and many of the remaining styles also contained significant imported content.

Bollman also created an “American Made Matters – Choose American” (AMM) seal to apply to its products, and then began licensing the seal to other companies through its wholly owned subsidiary SaveAnAmericanJob, LLC.

The qualifications to “earn” the seal fell far below the “all or virtually all” standard needed to make a “Made in USA” claim. AMM members were required to self-certify that at least 50% of the cost of at least one of their products was incurred in the U.S., and further that final assembly or transformation took place in the U.S. After self-certifying and paying the $99 annual licensing fee, Bollman and SaveAnAmericanJob would feature those third-party products and brands on its AMM website. The FTC alleged numerous problems with this seal.Continue Reading FTC Orders – Doesn’t Warn – Bollman Hat Company to Cease Deceptive “Made in USA” Claims, Licensing “American Made Matters” Seal to Others without Proper Vetting

Seal of the Federal Trade CommissionA change in administration inevitably raises questions regarding the priorities and direction of federal agencies. To help set the record straight, Lesley Fair, a Senior Attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC or Commission), Bureau of Consumer Protection, reminded us during last week’s NAD Annual Conference that the FTC has kept quite busy over the last year or so, with numerous enforcement cases arising out of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Ms. Fair also shared her views regarding the FTC’s key enforcement priorities that affect advertisers and marketers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these priority areas generally relate to (i) advertising substantiation; (ii) use of social media, endorsements, and consumer reviews; (iii) matters involving privacy and data security; and (iv) allegations of financial deception. While such topics warrant serious consideration and attention for advertisers, one would be remiss in failing to mention that, in typical Ms. Fair fashion, she discussed these issues in a manner that not only kept the audience engaged, but largely entertained.

With respect to advertising substantiation, Ms. Fair took the opportunity to remind the audience that despite our obsession with smartphones—and our assumption that they can do almost anything except fold our laundry—the FTC will carefully scrutinize advertisers’ claims about their products, including health apps for smartphones, to ensure they are adequately substantiated. As an example, Ms. Fair mentioned the Commission’s January 2017 Settlement with Breathometer, Inc. and Charles Michael Yim in which the FTC alleged that marketers of two app-supported smartphone accessories, marketed to accurately measure consumers’ blood alcohol content (BAC), failed to adequately test the accuracy of the app and failed to notify customers that the app regularly understated BAC levels. In another smartphone settlement from December 2016, FTC v. Aura Labs, Inc. and Ryan Archdeacon, the FTC alleged that the marketer’s blood pressure app lacked reliable testing, and that the app’s readings were significantly less accurate than those taken with a traditional blood pressure cuff. In both of these cases, Ms. Fair suggested that FTC seemed particularly concerned due to potential safety issues arising from the lack of proper testing, especially where an intoxicated driver might get behind a wheel, or where a consumer may think his/her blood pressure does not present a health risk. These cases serve as a reminder that the FTC will evaluate substantiation with an especially critical eye where advertisers make health and safety-related claims.Continue Reading What’s the Federal Trade Commission Been Up to Recently?

Made in USABy now, anyone who is even a casual reader of our blog should know about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Made in USA” requirements. As we have explained elsewhere, the FTC requires that a company’s products be “all or virtually all” manufactured in the United States (as well as “finally processed” domestically) for the…

The White House proclaimed July 17th as Made in America Day and last week as Made in America Week. As part of these events, the administration showcased “Made in America” products from each of the 50 states. For the complete list click here. Apparently the District of Columbia didn’t make the cut, which we’re a little bitter about (we know you’re thinking that nothing gets made in DC, but that’s not actually true.) The showcased products were displayed along with a sign that unambiguously proclaimed that the products were “Made in America.”

All of which leads us to wonder, did anyone check with the FTC?Continue Reading Made in America Day/Week

Made in USAEarlier this month, Venable reported on the Trump administration’s intent to make the federal government’s procurement preference for domestic products (i.e., the body of “Buy American” laws that have been around in some form or another since 1933) even “more muscular” by moving forward with a “new policy” that is “based on the twin pillars…

By V4711 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By V4711 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

On February 1, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an action against Chemence, Inc., an Ohio-based manufacturer, advertiser, and distributor of cyanoacrylate glues (often referred to as “superglues”). In its complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the FTC alleges that Chemence is deceiving consumers by claiming that all, or virtually all, of its glue products are American-made. Chemence’s glue products, which include Kwik Frame, Kwik Fix, and Krylex, purport to be “Made in the USA” or “proudly made in the USA.” According to the FTC, these claims are unqualified, and thus deceptive, since a “significant proportion”—approximately 55%—of the chemical components in Chemence’s glues are attributable to imported chemicals essential to the way the glues function.

The FTC also claims that Chemence provided the “means and instrumentalities” for others to deceive consumers through its unqualified Made in USA claims by providing deceptive promotional materials to retailers for use in marketing the glues. The complaint asks the court to issue an order permanently prohibiting Chemence from making deceptive Made in USA claims and seeks other relief, including monetary relief and rescission or reformation of contracts.Continue Reading Working Toward a Cohesive Approach to “Made in USA” Claims

We love a good March Madness legal blog (see here and here and here)  and NAD gave us some great fodder this month deciding a case between two large daily fantasy sports league websites.   This one wasn’t exactly an upset like so many of the games this year leading to the Sweet 16.   DraftKings claimed it was the “largest US-based destination for daily fantasy sports.”  FanDuel cried foul.  There was no dispute that FanDuel is larger by a significant margin.  The issue was whether the company was US or non-US based, the key factor which would render the claim either literally true or literally false.  This case is a riff on Made in USA analysis.  Instead of focusing on where a good is manufactured, including its component parts, this case looked to the right definition for determining where a corporation is based.  The NAD noted that consumers “often care very much about the domestic nature of products that they purchase, and such sentiments are likely to also be felt about services that they patronize.  For example, for consumers concerned about unemployment in the United States, the fact that a competing company’s labor force resides in another country may be quite important when deciding which company’s website to patronize.”  As an aside, we are not so sure there are consumers who would base a purchase decision on where key executives sit or where key corporate decision are made, as opposed to where a company’s employees reside.  That said, there is certainly an advantage in claiming to be the largest or No. 1, as it may well convey a message that a company has passed the test by rising to the top in terms of market share.   And it is not unusual for a company to try to create a category in which it can be the champion.  NAD said such a claim is particularly impactful in this case because “consumers are attracted to ‘larger’ daily fantasy sports websites because they have larger pools of players and prizes.”
Continue Reading Fantasy League Competitors Battle on the NAD Court for Decision Over Who Can Claim “Largest US-Based Website”