top of page

    Advertising and Promotions

 

  • Familiarity with the legal implications of advertising media and promotions, such as affiliate marketing, billboards, blogs, computers, contests, direct marketing, emails, endorsers, events, gift cards, green marketing, influencers, internet, kidfluencers, keyword searches, mobile, movies, network marketing, payment processors, phone, print, producers, product placement, promoters, push campaigns, radio, retail packaging, robocalling, social media, sponsorships, store displays, subscriptions, surveys, sweepstakes, transportation (airplane, balloon, boat, bus, truck, train), telemarketing, television, viral marketing, word-of-mouth.

 

  • Review of advertising copy for various industries, such as apparel, banking, biologics, communications, consumer products and services, cosmetics, credit counseling, debt management, dietary supplements, drugs, electronics, entertainment, fashion, financial services, foods, healthcare, home products, hospitality, life sciences, manufacturing, media, medical devices, pet products, pharmaceuticals, software, telecommunications.

 

  • Review of advertising copy for violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC), with particular focus on red-flag issues violating “evidence-based” substantiation of claims about health and safety, advertisements for free products, 8xx-numbers, 9xx-numbers and other pay-per-call services, textile safety, the authenticity of jewelry (including gold, silver, platinum, pewter, diamonds, gemstones), “green” claims (that a product is environmentally-safe, or is at least environmentally-friendly).

 

  • Strong focus on the revision of advertising language to facilitate the dissemination of truth about a product or service, so that it does not confuse or mislead the average consumer (meaning a person who does not have specialized experience with such product or service) by making some representation that might be taken as “deceptive” (likely to mislead such average consumers) if the advertiser did not give full and detailed disclosure about such product or service, or might be considered “unfair” (if the potential harm to such average consumers may be substantial, not outweighed by other benefits, and not reasonably avoidable), such as a misleading claim where materially relevant information has been omitted or if the claim implies some representation that is patently false.

 

  • Review of proposed animated or video advertisements purporting to be actual demonstrations of a product or service, to verify whether the demonstrations show how the product will perform under everyday normal use by consumers, or whether the demonstrations include added elements that may not be present or accessible to the average consumer.

 

  • Drafting specific instructions to tell consumers how to get a copy of any warranty referenced in an advertisement for a product that can be purchased by mail, phone or computer.

 

  • Verification that any testimonials and endorsements in advertisements reflect the verified typical experiences of actual consumers, unless the advertisement clearly and conspicuously states otherwise, since a mere disclaimer that not all consumers may get the same results as in the claim is not sufficient to justify making the original claim itself, if the advertiser cannot provide actual proof to substantiate the original claim.

 

  • Verification that advertisements offering a refund (including language such as "satisfaction guaranteed" or "money-back guarantee") provide consumers with the terms of the offer and give full refunds for any reason.

 

  • Consultation in civil litigations and class actions involving alleged violations of state or Federal advertising laws or FTC rules, responses to cease and desist orders, injunctions by Federal courts and requirements for refunds or monetary damages to consumers for actual damages in civil lawsuits.

 

  • Drafting language providing a clear and obvious (meaning easy to read, clearly visible and basically understandable) disclosure to consumers clarifying the material connections between a brand and its endorsers, since it is the advertiser's responsibility to disclose endorsements, about which the law assumes that advertisers and marketers are aware.

 

  • Providing training and written guidelines to businesses, advertisers, marketers and endorsers regarding the managing of material connection disclosure requirements through written corporate endorsement policies, including information about what an endorsement is, the type of wording and phrases that can and cannot be used by endorsers, whether an endorsement must be explicit or implied (as by the endorser simply using the product in a public setting, such as on social media), examples of acceptable disclosures, positive guidance to endorsers to reinforce that they have a responsibility to disclose their relationship with the company producing the product, explanations that the endorser must never act in any way that disparages the company or the product, notice to the endorsers that the company will be monitoring the endorsers to ensure they are making sufficient disclosures and not misrepresenting the product.

 

  • Consultation regarding the legalities involved in creating material connections with endorsers, such as paying a blogger or celebrity to promote a product, giving discounts, referral fees or free products to bloggers, paying employees extra for posting positive messages (whether true or not) about a product on social media, offering marketing affiliates an incentive program.

 

  • Familiarity with the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) National Advertising Division (NAD) process for resolving  advertising challenges, even while the challenged advertising campaign is still running, and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) for review and enforcement of advertising intended directly or indirectly for children, and the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSRP).

​​

  • Research, testing, use, recommendation, specification and procurement of various content management system (CMS) platforms, such as Altair, bit.ai, Bitrix24, box, Confluence, Conga Contracts, DialogsCMS, Drupal, eFileCabinet, Elise ECM, Evolphin Zoom, eZ Publish, Folloze, Hubb, InfiniteECM, IQVIA, Kissflow, Laserfiche, MarCom On Demand, Medidata, Ninox, Nintex Process Platform, Open Text, Pantheon, Pozative, ProcessWire, PublishNow, SepPortal, Squarespace, Veeva Vault, ViewCenter, Zoho docs, Zyyne.

​

Last updated 200923_2024

bottom of page