Tag: advertising

  • UK Advertising Watchdog Censures Kellogg’s for Sugar Claims

    The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has censured Kellogg Marketing and Sales Co. (UK), Ltd. for falsely claiming on its website, in relation to promotions for children’s breakfast cereals, that “A panel of world health experts recently reviewed all the scientific evidence and concluded that a high sugar intake is not related to obesity, or…

  • UN Special Rapporteur Urges Regulation, Taxation to Abate “Nutritional Crisis”

    The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter recently presented a report before the U.N. Human Rights Council, calling for governments to enact five priority actions to curb malnourishment, micronutrient deficiency and obesity in populations worldwide. In particular, De Schutter has urged policy makers to consider (i) “taxing unhealthy products”; (ii)…

  • Food Advertising to Kids Deemed “Inherently Misleading”

    In an article titled “Government Can Regulate Food Advertising to Children Because Cognitive Research Shows That It Is Inherently Misleading,” two attorneys and a communications professor assert that the First Amendment is no bar to the regulation of “junk food” ads targeting children younger than 12 because they lack the ability to understand the advertisers’…

  • Mixed Rulings in PETA Litigation Against California “Happy Cows” Ad Campaign

    According to news sources, a state court has ordered dairy farmers on the California Milk Advisory Board to answer questions about marketing the dairy industry in California. The order was reportedly entered in a lawsuit filed in June 2011 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) alleging that the board’s “Happy Cow” ads…

  • False Advertising Class Action Filed in Georgia Against POM Wonderful

    A Georgia resident has filed a complaint in federal court on behalf of a statewide class of consumers allegedly misled about the purported health benefits of POM Wonderful’s pomegranate products. Templeton v. POM Wonderful, LLC, No. 12-53 (S.D. Ga., filed February 16, 2012). According to the complaint, the company promotes its products “as having special…

  • Article Explores Intersection of Junk Food Ads Targeting Children and First Amendment

    In an article supported, in part, by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, authors Jennifer Harris and Samantha Graff suggest that the findings of psychological research about the subliminal effects of food advertising on young people should be considered when advertisers defend their practices by invoking the First Amendment’s commercial speech doctrine. Harris, who is affiliated…

  • Plaintiff’s Counsel Seeking Plaintiffs for Potential Action Against Gerber over Marketing Claims

    A California-based attorney is apparently considering filing a class action lawsuit against Gerber on behalf of consumers purportedly misled by the company’s promotions for its baby food products. According to Ronald Marron, “Gerber claims that NutriProtect™ is ‘Nutrition for Healthy Growth & Natural Immune Support.’ But a close review of the ingredients, in tiny letters…

  • UK Group Files Complaints About Online Ads Targeting Kids

    A U.K.-based public interest charity has filed 54 separate complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) contending that the subject companies, including Cadbury and Pringles, are promoting food products high in sugars, fat or salt to children online. Described by the Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) as a “super complaint,” the case reflects the findings of…