Bait & Switch Advertising
Advertised deals get consumers in the door but not necessarily the price or product they wanted.
Celeb Endorsements
Why is your favorite celebrity attracted to that specific product?
Deceptive Marketing 101: Recyclable Claims
How products marketed as “recyclable” end up in landfills.
Does Size Really Matter? A Primer on Slack-Filled Packaging
What to know about the FDA’s rule on under-filled or slack-filled packaging.
Engagement Marketing
How companies get us to engage and form a relationship with the brand or product they are selling.
FDA Registered, Cleared, Approved: What’s the Difference?
Medical devices like to tout their status with the FDA. But what’s behind these terms?
Free Doesn’t Usually Mean Free
There’s lots of strings attached to offers of free products and services.
Guarantees
Watch out for loopholes in those guarantees.
How Causewashing Deceives Consumers
For decades, brands have been supporting causes — or rather pretending to support causes — to boost sales.
Infomercials
What to know before you bite on that revolutionary infomercial product.
Product Placement
Products that pop up in movies and television shows are often there for specific advertising reasons.
Rebates
Rebates are often unredeemed.
Sales, Bargains, Discounts
Shoppers face fictitious pricing, perpetual sales and more when trying to decipher a true bargain in the aisle.
Service Contracts and Extended Warranties
Is it worth it to pay extra for that extended warranty?
Sweepstakes & Prizes
Sweepstakes and lotteries may be scams in disguise.
Talking to Kids about Deceptive Advertising
Teach your children well, about ads.
The Fine Print – Read It
What the ad giveth, the fine print is not supposed to taketh away.
The Scoop on Social Media Influencer Disclosure Requirements
What kind of disclosure is necessary for social media influencer marketing?
The Subliminal Ad
Was that an ad that flashed by?
Truth is Not Always a Defense
The truth is bigger than the sum of an ad’s parts.
Viral Marketing
The marketing angle behind viral videos.
What Does Made in the USA Really Mean?
When does a product truly meet the requirements for a Made in USA label?
What to Know about Negative-Option Offers
Risk free trials may lead to repeated, unwanted charges to your credit card.
What to Know about Sponsored Content
It’s getting harder to distinguish advertisements from objective content.
What is Industry Self-Regulation?
Self-regulating organizations can have varying impacts on the standards that are set for the way industries do business.
Puffery – A Marketer’s Right To Lie
Ads can legally lie to you as long as the lie is so obvious an exaggeration that you know not to take it seriously.