Ad Watchdog Launches Its Own Campaign

“The truth’s not always easy, but in advertising, it’s the law,” says truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org)

MADISON, Conn., March 24, 2014— Non-profit advertising watchdog truthinadvertising.org (TINA.org) today launched its first national advertising campaign, using humor to engage consumers on the serious issue of misleading marketing.

The ads place people in the position of telling surprising truths, and close with the line, “The truth’s not always easy, but in advertising, it’s the law.”  The campaign encourages the public to report misleading marketing to TINA.org.  The ads will run in display, digital, and video form in major newspapers including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, online publications and websites as well as through social media.

“TINA.org is building an online community where consumers can report deceptive marketing and take an active role in advocating for change,” said TINA.org Executive Director Bonnie Patten.  “We need the public’s help to be our eyes and ears in the marketplace and let us know when they see a questionable ad.”

The organization’s website, TINA.org, exposes false advertising, highlights breaking news, and details legal action taken against companies found to be deceiving consumers.  TINA.org’s first full year of operation included four legal actions, more than 200 ad alerts, another 200+ news articles and blog posts, reports on 232 false-advertising class actions, three petitions, and more.

The “Truth in Advertising” campaign was created by award-winning Creative director, Jonathan Cranin (who led the creation of the MasterCard “Priceless” campaign), who worked with TINA.org’s PR agency, Zito Partners. The video for the campaign was directed by Justin Reardon, co-creator of the Budweiser “Whassup” ads.