Make your claims crystal clear
By: Lesley Fair | Aug 29, 2012 11:00AM
Earlier this year, the FTC settled five law enforcement actions against companies making allegedly deceptive energy savings claims for their replacement windows. Now the FTC has sent letters to 14 window manufacturers and one window glass manufacturer, warning that they may be making unsupported energy savings representations for their products.
By: Lesley Fair | Jun 29, 2012 1:45PM
Unless you’re playing Scrabble and use QI or ZA on a triple letter square, two-letter words usually don’t count for much. A consumer perception study released by the FTC suggests that two common two-letter words often used in ads may not have the effect of qualifying product claims that some marketers and copywriters think they have. Any guess what those words are?
Up to.
By: Lesley Fair | Jun 6, 2012 4:36PM
A tank top and cut-offs are perfect for a balmy day in Boca Raton, just as a down parka and fuzzy mittens will ward off the shivers in Sheboygan. That's the idea behind the Department of Energy’s new regional efficiency standards for heating and cooling equipment. Unlike earlier DOE regs, which mandated uniform energy efficiency levels, the new standards for residential furnaces, central air conditioners, and heat pumps vary by region. That way, consumers will have the information they need to make a choice suited to their locale.
By: Lesley Fair | Apr 20, 2012 11:16AM
Earth Day is approaching and it’s great when businesses decide to go green. But if the “green” they have in mind is the hard-earned cash of consumers interested in making wiser environmental choices, companies should remember that well-settled truth-in-advertising principles apply. The FTC’s law enforcement action against the people behind the “Green Millionaire” promotion emphasizes that point.
By: Lesley Fair | Mar 8, 2012 9:30AM
It’s helpful when advertisers can get a window into the FTC’s thinking about certain ad claims — and five recent settlements with companies that sell replacement windows offer just that.
According to the FTC, the businesses made exaggerated and unsupported representations about the energy efficiency of their windows, and about how much money people could save on their heating and cooling bills by having them installed. What did the ads say? Things like:
Let’s hope it doesn’t get to this, but . . .
By: Lesley Fair | Feb 13, 2012 3:59PM
When the FTC conducts an investigation to see if a company has violated the law, it’s important that the process is efficient and not unduly burdensome on those involved. The FTC’s Rules of Practice lay out the procedures the Commission follows.
Continue Reading Let’s hope it doesn’t get to this, but . . .
Material changes and heated discussions
By: Lesley Fair | Jan 5, 2012 5:37PM
If you’re in the textile industry or sell home HVAC equipment (and especially if you’re in the textile industry and sell HVAC equipment, in which case we’re dying to know what your store looks like), you’ll want to jot down some important dates from the FTC.
Closed encounters of the third kind
By: Lesley Fair | Aug 8, 2011 9:57AM
Savvy executives like to stay in the loop on FTC activities that could affect their industry. They make it a habit to scan the headlines or check for relevant workshops or reports. But there’s a third category of information a bit less understood: closing letters from BCP staff.
In the spirit of transparency, the agency posts them online. Here in the BCP Business Center, recent letters appear in the Compliance Documents section of each topic area.
By: Lesley Fair | Jul 11, 2011 10:20AM
Is your briefcase feeling lighter? That’s because your dog-eared copy of Volume 16 of the Code of Federal Regulations (where most FTC rules and guides live) is decidedly thinner these days. For the past two decades, the agency has undertaken a systematic review of its rules and guides to make sure they’re up to date, effective, and not overly burdensome. As each rule comes up for review, we ask ourselves — and you — four questions:
By: Lesley Fair | Jun 14, 2011 2:30PM
You use them everyday at home and at the office, they’re within an arm’s reach of where you’re sitting — and they’re undergoing the most profound change since the days of Thomas Edison. Any guesses?
Light bulbs.
Time to kick the tires on the FTC’s Alternative Fuels Rule
By: Lesley Fair | May 31, 2011 12:14PM
We’re still waiting for George Jetson’s promised jetpacks, but car buyers have started to see transportation options not available just a few years ago. That’s one reason the FTC has begun a review the Alternative Fuels Rule and seeks your input about the rule’s costs, benefits, and regulatory and economic impact.
Continue Reading Time to kick the tires on the FTC’s Alternative Fuels Rule
By: Lesley Fair | Mar 28, 2011 2:07PM
No, not those unpleasant former colleagues, but the resurgent bane of the business traveler: bedbugs.
Bedbugs are coming out of the woodwork — followed closely by opportunists peddling iffy products aimed at on-the-go professionals. Although bedbugs don't carry disease, their bites can cause itchy, annoying welts. But before you shell out money for an unproven remedy, find out more about what will (and won't) protect you from these pests when you travel.
Complaint stats tell the story
By: Lesley Fair | Mar 8, 2011 4:43PM
Consumers have found their voice. And last year they raised it more than 1.3 million times to complain about identity theft, fraud, and products that didn’t live up to the advertising hype.
By: Lesley Fair | Mar 7, 2011 4:24PM
Break out the bubbly and raise a toast: It's National Consumer Protection Week. NCPW is an annual campaign sponsored by the FTC and nearly 30 other federal agencies, consumer groups, and advocacy organizations, in conjunction with state, county, and local government offices that are sponsoring events nationwide. The goal? To encourage consumers to take full advantage of their rights and make better-informed decisions.
By: Lesley Fair | Jan 12, 2011 5:31PM
For many people, environmental considerations play an important role in what they put in their shopping carts. But it's tough to know when green claims are credible. Seals and certifications can be a useful tool to help shoppers decide where to place their trust and how to spend their money — but only if they're backed by solid proof.
It's all over but the screening
By: Lesley Fair | Oct 29, 2010 2:19PM
People complain there’s nothing new on TV, but soon shoppers can expect to see something different. That’s because recent amendments to the FTC’s Appliance Labeling Rule will require the familiar yellow-and-black EnergyGuide label on new televisions manufactured after May 10, 2011.
By: Laura Koss | Oct 6, 2010 10:03AM
Today, the FTC is releasing proposed changes to its Green Guides. For years, the Green Guides have offered practical steps businesses can take to make sure that claims for a product’s environmental qualities aren’t misleading.
Our Green Guides have been under review for the last few years in an effort to make sure that they are appropriate for a changing marketplace. As part of the review process, the agency sought comments from the public, hosted public workshops, and conducted its own consumer perception study. The changes the Commission is proposing include guidance on:
By: Lesley Fair | Oct 4, 2010 3:00PM
In the holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street," optimists and skeptics debated the existence of Kris Kringle. Nobody would liken effective advertising self-regulation to Santa Claus, but the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD) – located on 36th Street in New York – has made believers out of a lot of people. Kicking off its annual conference today, the NAD is a forum for monitoring and evaluating truth and accuracy in national advertising.
BCP Business Center: Your Link to the Law
By: David Vladeck, Director, BCP | Sep 2, 2010 9:56AM
Welcome to the BCP Business Center: Your Link to the Law. Explore and you’ll find practical compliance guidance on advertising, telemarketing, credit, data security, and other need-to-know topics for business owners and marketing professionals. What else will you find? The latest word on upcoming workshops, hot-off-the-presses staff reports, and new compliance videos. We’ll do our best to keep things to the point with a minimum of ho-hum, a maximum of how-to, and as little yadda yadda yadda as a legal website can manage.
