Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials

Chapter 3: FALSE ADVERTISING OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 3: FALSE ADVERTISING OVERVIEW………………………………….. 97
1. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ……………………………… 97
A. Statutory Background………………………………………………………… 97
Unfairness …………………………………………………………………………. 98 Deceptiveness…………………………………………………………………….. 99
Structure …………………………………………………………………………… 100
B. Enforcement of FTC Advertising Regulations ……………………… 101
Administrative Trials …………………………………………………………. 104
Federal Court Litigation …………………………………………………….. 105
Non-litigation Activity………………………………………………………… 108
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 111
2. Competitors: The Lanham Act and Self-Regulation…………. 117
A. The Lanham Act………………………………………………………………… 118
History ………………………………………………………………………………. 118
Present Form …………………………………………………………………….. 119
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 122
B. BBB/ASRC/NAD………………………………………………………………… 125
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 130
3. State Law: Consumers (and Occasionally Others) …………… 134
A. Common Law Claims …………………………………………………………. 134
Contracts (a Historical Perspective)…………………………………….. 134
Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Company ……………………………… 136
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 139
Ads as Contract Offers Today ……………………………………………… 140
Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc.……………………………………………………….140
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 145
Harris v. Time…………………………………………………………………….147
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 151
Common Law Fraud or Deceit……………………………………………..154
Vokes v. Arthur Murray, Inc. ………………………………………………. 154
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 159
B. Consumer Protection Laws…………………………………………………. 162
Overview …………………………………………………………………………… 162
State Attorneys General……………………………………………………… 168
Consumer Lawsuits…………………………………………………………….171
Class Actions………………………………………………………………………173
Gomez-Jimenez v. New York Law School……………………………… 173
Harnish v. Widener University School of Law ………………………. 183
NOTES AND QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………. 189
4. Comparing the Types of Regulation …………………………………. 192
Practice Problem: Fyord …………………………………………………………. 198