Wilson’s Made in USA Claims

The FTC may be yelling “Wilson!” but for an entirely different reason than Tom Hanks.

Earlier this month, the agency sent Wilson Sporting Goods a closing letter that described concerns it had raised with the company over marketing claims that its youth footballs are made in the USA.

Specifically, although Wilson temporarily shifted to dual sourcing certain youth footballs from the USA and Vietnam, the Company failed to update marketing materials to reflect this change.

In response to the FTC’s inquiry, Wilson removed the unqualified U.S.-origin claims at issue, communicated with third-party retailers to update marketing materials, implemented enhanced review processes and trained employees, according to the letter.

Under “country of manufacture” for one of the company’s youth footballs on the Wilson website, the company now states:

Youth-sized GST leather footballs are manufactured in two locations: Vietnam and Ada, Ohio. All Youth-sized GST leather footballs purchased from http://www.wilson.com are manufactured in Wilson’s football factory in Ada, Ohio.

The FTC told Wilson that it is free to promote its general commitment to American jobs and manufacturing, such as highlighting investments in new facilities in the U.S. where its youth footballs are made.

However, marketing materials should not state or imply “that a whole product line is of U.S. origin (e.g., ‘Our products are Made in USA’) when only some products in the product line are, in fact, made in the United States.”

Good advice for any company looking to market their products as made in the USA.

Find more of our coverage on made in the USA claims here.