Fıve Things You Can't Do in Advertising if You Want to Stay on Right Side of the Law!

When advertisers have a problem with a competitor's claims, they don't have to go to court. They can turn to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, a self-regulating body established in 1971 to deal with false or misleading advertising claims. The NAD can also file a challenge against an advertiser on its own. In 2010, the NAD handled 145 cases and has handled thousands over the years for some of the biggest brands out there. "The NAD is applying the most important principles of advertising law and serve a consumer-protection function. NAD has reviewed advertising claims that were made in product placement (inserted into the dialogue of a TV show or a movie), claims made in YouTube videos, in blog postings and in press releases. So now you know.

Below, a few rules established by NAD precedent

FACEBOOK AND YOUR TWITTER COUNT

People can generally say whatever they want on their Facebook page and Twitter stream. But not advertisers. In July 2010, the NAD recommended that the Liquid HCG Diet product discontinue its weight-loss claims in electronic advertising, specifically pointing out Twitter and Facebook in the decision. The NAD also asked that HCG modify its consumer testimonials. It's no wonder the NAD felt inclined to do so -- a quick check of the HCG Diet Facebook page shows it has more than 62,000 likes. In comparison, Nutrisystem has about 11,000 and Jenny Craig about 25,000.

COMEDY IS NO EXCUSE

Just because it's funny doesn't mean there isn't a serious claim being made that has to be substantiated. In 2006, the NAD concluded that the crash demonstration in the Mercedes-Benz GL commercial overstated the actual crash-resistance and safety performance of the car and recommended that the commercials be modified. The commercial showed another vehicle crashing into the Mercedes and bouncing off it, with no damage to the Mercedes.

EVEN CARTOON BEARS MUST BE HONEST

The Charmin Ultra Bears case, decided last year, established that product demonstrations must accurately show a product's performance, characteristics or features -- even if it's a cartoon demonstration. Much to the chagrin of Procter & Gamble and to the amusement of challenger and rival Kimberly-Clark Corp -- as well as the press -- the NAD decided that the animated demonstration of a Charmin Bear using toilet paper overstated extent of product superiority and did not accurately reflect consumer-testing results. Therefore, the Charmin Bears, which first appeared for the P&G brand in 2000, must prominently display at least a few specs of cartoon toilet paper on their rears to accurately reflect that Charmin leaves fewer pieces behind, but not no pieces behind.

NATURAL AS NATURE

In 1998, the NAD recommended that Tom's of Maine avoid claiming that its Natural Mouthwash is 100% or completely natural and include in advertising that the product contains an ingredient that is not inherently "natural" or sourced from nature. Attempts to find this ingredient were futile, but the case made its point. Following that case, the NAD had to basically go through the thesaurus of adjectives relating to claims of nature and insist to companies that if they say their product is "biodegradable" -- like Clorox did with its Green Works Natural Cleaning Wipes -- it actually has to degrade. Last year, even Whole Foods favorite Seventh Generation was told to discontinue or modify various safety and "natural" claims.

SALE MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS ARE ADS, TOO

A couple of cases helped the NAD draw the line between commercial and noncommercial speech. Last year, the NAD told Smart Technologies that the marketing materials included with its whiteboards directed to sales personnel to "educate" them count as national advertising and therefore must be substantiated just like any kind of ad. And in 2007, the NAD told Dyson that it couldn't hide behind an "instructional" ad on YouTube -- the video depicted a comparative product demonstration, and the NAD deemed it adv

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