Tag: advertising
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Court Approves Nearly $4 Million Settlement in Kashi GMO Case
A Florida federal court has granted preliminary approval of the settlement reached in a class action alleging that Kashi falsely advertised its products as “All Natural” despite containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Eggnatz v. The Kellogg Co., No. 12-21678 (S.D. Fla., order entered September 4, 2015). The court certified the class for settlement purposes and…
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ASA Upholds Complaint Arising from Online Sweepstakes
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint alleging that an online “instant-win” promotion organized by Kettle Foods Ltd. was misleading because it required participants to register before finding out if they had won a prize. According to ASA, the U.K. Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) states…
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Humane Society’s “Other White Meat” Suit Revived
A lawsuit dismissed in 2013 alleging that the National Pork Board purchased the tagline “The Other White Meat” from the National Pork Producers Council for fraudulent reasons has been revived by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Humane Soc’y of the U.S. v. Vilsack, No. 13-5293 (D.C. Cir., order entered August 14, 2015). The…
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Rudd Center Claims Food and Beverage Marketing Targets Black and Hispanic Youth
The University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has issued a report claiming that food companies “disproportionately target their TV advertising for fast food, candy, sugary drink and snack brands to black and Hispanic consumers.” Focusing on restaurant, food and beverage companies that spent at least $100 million on advertising in 2013…
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San Francisco SSB Statute Violates First Amendment, Industry Lawsuit Argues
The American Beverage Association (ABA) has partnered with California retail and advertising associations to challenge San Francisco ordinances requiring warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) advertisements and prohibiting advertisements of such products on city property. Am. Beverage Ass’n v. City of San Francisco, No. 15-3415 (N.D. Cal., filed July 24, 2015). ABA argues that the ordinances…
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Court Finds Gerber Case Unaffected by Fourth Circuit Change in False Ad Standards
A California federal court has denied Gerber Products Co.’s attempt to dismiss a false advertising lawsuit about the company’s Good Start® Gentle based on the reasoning in a June 2015 Fourth Circuit decision that significantly changed the law. Zakaria v. Gerber Prods. Co., No. 15-0200 (C.D. Cal., order entered July 14, 2015). The June decision…
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Food and Beverage Marketing Aimed at Young Children Focus of New Report
California-based law and policy advocacy organization ChangeLab Solutions has issued a voluminous white paper reviewing legal issues surrounding potential strategies to address the marketing of “unhealthy” foods and beverages purportedly directed to children younger than age 5. The report details various policy considerations with respect to outdoor advertising, broadcast media, digital and print media, childcare…
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Vodka Maker to Appeal ASA Ad Ban
Diageo Great Britain Ltd. reportedly plans to appeal the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA’s) decision to ban a Smirnoff ® advertisement for allegedly violating the marketing rules for social responsibility in alcohol marketing. Upholding its own complaint, which claimed that the ad in question linked social success to alcohol consumption, ASA found that “the ad’s…