Kelley Drye Ad Law Access Podcast

Gonzalo E. Mon Yesterday, we posted about a decision in which P&G challenged claims that Rascals made about the absorption capabilities of its diapers. Rascals also advertised: ​“210,000+ 5-star reviews of Rascals Products.” P&G thought something about that claim smelled funny and challenged that, too

Paul L. Singer, Beth Bolen Chun, Abigail Stempson, Andrea deLorimier Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sued Snap, Inc., the operator of the social media platform Snapchat, this week for violations of Florida’s HB 3 (§§ 501.1736–.1738, Fla. Stat. (2024)) and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA). The complaint alleges that Snapchat is a covered social media company und...

Gonzalo E. Mon Rascals advertises that the Hydrolock Core in its diapers ​“holds up to 25 x its weight” and ​“absorbs 15 x its weight.” P&G thought that claim was full of crap and filed a challenge before the NAD, arguing that Rascals supported its claims with tests that didn’t mirror real-world use. NAD’s decision holds valuable lessons for advertisers across industries.

Paul L. Singer, Beth Bolen Chun, Abigail Stempson, Andrea deLorimier Last week, the Kelley Drye State AG team attended the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Attorney General Symposium. The panels included a number of topics of importance to state attorneys general including cell phone jamming in prisons, social engineering or ​“pig butchering” scams, human trafficking, youth and you...

Gonzalo E. Mon A recent class action asks how it’s possible that a Chinese company, with allegedly ​“no fashion designers or background, selling flea-market quality clothes, became a giant in the fast-fashion industry in the US?” The answer, according to the complaint, ​“is simple: undisclosed endorsements on social media.” In this case, the plaintiffs allege that Shein engages influencers to prom...

Gonzalo E. Mon, Christie Grymes Thompson In 2020, plaintiffs filed a class action complaint in California federal court against Bigelow Tea, alleging that the company falsely represents that its teas are made in the United States, when the tea leaves are actually grown and processed abroad. Among other things, the plaintiffs pointed to Bigelow’s use of term ​“Manufactured in the USA” on the backs...

Donnelly L. McDowell, Ioana Gorecki Today, the Senate confirmed Mark Meador as the newest Republican commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission with a 50-46 vote along party lines. Meador’s confirmation solidifies a Republican majority on the Commission, following the recent dismissals of Democratic commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter by President Trump, which we covered prev...

Alysa Z. Hutnik, Jennifer Rodden Wainwright On April 7, 2025, the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) released an order announcing a one-year delay of a new implementing rule for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) related to consumers’ ability to revoke consent to receive autodialed and/or prerecorded calls and texts. The order was issued just days before the rule was sc...

Gonzalo E. Mon As part of its on-going monitoring of influencer campaigns, NAD recently launched an inquiry to assess whether influencers Brittany Mahomes and Lana Del Rey had adequately disclosed their relationship to Skims Body – a fashion brand that specializes in underwear and loungewear – in various Instagram posts.

Paul L. Singer, Alysa Z. Hutnik, Beth Bolen Chun, Abigail Stempson, Jennifer Rodden Wainwright On March 17, a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 27 states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the National Consumer Law Center’s proposed petition for rehearing en banc of the court’s decision to overturn the FCC’s so-called...

Beth Bolen Chun, Salim Rashid, Gonzalo E. Mon Businesses offering subscriptions or other ongoing services continue to face a growing, and increasingly complex, patchwork of state auto-renewal laws (ARLs). 2025 brings a fresh wave of developments across the states. In addition to newly introduced and enacted ARL legislation this session, a number of state laws are now in effect as of January 1, 202...

Donnelly McDowell, Ioana Gorecki Yesterday, we covered President Trump’s firing of Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter and explored whether a two-member Commission constitutes a quorum for the agency to take formal action. Today, we take a look at the FTC’s first 50 days under Chair Andrew Ferguson, reflecting on key developments and early insights relating to the agen...

Gonzalo E. Mon DREO advertises that it is the ​“No. 1 Fan and Heater Brand” in the United States. Lasko, a competitor, thinks that it is, in fact, the ​“number 1” brand in both of those categories. Because there can’t be two ​“number 1” brands, Lasko filed a challenge before the NAD to dispute its competitor’s claims.

Katie Rogers, Gonzalo Mon Last week, consumers in four states filed a proposed class action against Amazon, accusing the company of greenwashing by misleading consumers about the sustainability of the company’s Amazon Basics line of paper products. The 123-page complaint covers a lot of ground, but here are some of the key allegations

Alysa Hutnik, Laura Riposo VanDruff, Jennifer Rodden Wainwright Most businesses that send texts to their target audiences are focused on compliance with the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) – and understandably so, given the explosion in class action litigation stemming from the TCPA’s private right of action. However, outreach to consumers by phone, including texting, can also com...

President Trump fired the two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. President Trump’s action leaves Chair Andrew Ferguson (R) and Commissioner Melissa Holyoak (R) as the only two members of the Commission, which has many wondering: can the FTC take formal action by a 2-0 vote cast by members of the same party? Can Trump refuse...

As news hit that President Trump fired the two remaining Democratic FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, many questions abound. Would Commissioners Bedoya and Slaughter contest the dismissals? (The answer there appears to be an emphatic yes – with both issuing statements last night to that effect.) Another question: what will this mean for day-to-day operations at the Commission,...

Gonzalo Mon Simpler Hair Color (or ​“SHC”) advertises that its products are ​“Rated #1 Men’s Hair Color” and ​“Rated #1 Men’s Hair & Beard Color” based on ​“Trustpilot​.com verified reviews.” Combe, a competitor, challenged the #1 claims before the NAD, arguing that the claims are unsubstantiated because Trustpilot doesn’t have a ​“Men’s Hair Color” category and that SHC is not listed as #1 in any...

What’s going on with Michigan’s consumer protection statute? How does the Michigan Attorney General’s Office operate, and what are its enforcement priorities? In this episode of the Ad Law Access Podcast, your host Simone Roach delivers insights from Paul L. Singer, Abigail Stempson, Beth Bolen Chun, and Andrea deLorimier, based on their recent blog post recapping their recent webinar with Michiga...

New York Attorney General Letitia James reached a settlement with app developer Saturn Technologies following an investigation into the company’s privacy practices. Saturn’s calendar app, marketed to high school students, promised an exclusive community but allegedly failed to deliver on its security claims. The settlement includes a $200,000 payment, stricter privacy safeguards, and marketing com...

Aaron J. Burstein and Laura Riposo VanDruff: As its first policy initiative under Chair Andrew Ferguson, the FTC announced a Request for Information (RFI) ​“to better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliations, and how this conduct may have violated the law.” The premise of the RFI is that ​“technology platform...

From Gonzalo Mon: Under the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, influencers and celebrities have to disclose any material connection they have to the brands they promote ​“when a significant minority of the audience for an endorsement does not understand or expect the connection.” That leaves open the possibility that there are instances in which a connection is so obvious to almost everyone, that it doesn’...

Contact: Caroline T. Schmitz, Gonzalo E. Mon, Katie Rogers Hosted by Simone Roach Green marketing is very much in vogue, and so is suing companies over their green marketing. If you want to avoid those suits, you should generally start by looking at the FTC’s Green Guides. But a lot has changed since the Green Guides were last updated in 2012, so they don’t always provide clear answers to today’s...

Hosted by Simone Roach from a blog post from Aaron J. Burstein, Alysa Z. Hutnik, Alexander I. Schneider, and Meaghan M. Donahue On March 12, 2025, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) announced a settlement with American Honda Motor Co., resolving allegations that the company violated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and requiring Honda to pay a $632,500 fine. The announcement...

Hosted by Simone Roach, this episode breaks down ten things we, as counsel to the business community, would like to see from the agency under Chair Andrew Ferguson: https://www.kelleydrye.com/viewpoints/blogs/ad-law-access/a-respondents-wishlist-10-changes-businesses-would-like-to-see-from-the-new-ftc-bureau-of-consumer-protection #FTC #RegulatoryChanges #ConsumerProtection #BusinessLaw #FederalOv...