The Dirty Cats of the Super Bowl

These adorable fur balls help sell products, but are the companies free of false or deceptive marketing claims?

Jan 30, 2013

The Dirty Cats of the Super Bowl

These adorable fur balls help sell products, but are the companies free of false or deceptive marketing claims?

Ameriquest: More than 240,000 consumers were awarded $600 each after Ameriquest agreed in 2006 to a $325 million settlement to resolve allegations the company misled and defrauded consumers. At the time, the case was the second largest settlement in U.S. history.

Doritos – Man’s Best Friend Super Bowl XLVI Commercial: A 2009 digital marketing campaign by Frito-Lay targeting teens that featured a late night horror-themed website prompted a complaint to the FTC by four consumer groups. The groups said the company collected data on users and used viral marketing techniques that violated FTC guidelines.

ETrade Securities was fined $90,000 in 2001 by the disciplinary arm of the National Association of Security Dealers. The NASD regulators said the company, one of the largest online brokerage firms, violated advertising rules in a 1999 and 2000 direct mail marketing campaign sent to 9.8 million prospective investors.

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