From the FTC:
Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as "results not typical" – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.
What this means in practice is that from now on, advertisers who use customer testimonials in their ads will be on the same legal footing as those who make product claims themselves.
In its guidelines, the FTC acknowledges that critics are concerned that the new rule might have a "chilling effect" on the free speech of advertisers, but ultimately concluded that the addition of more or larger disclaimers wouldn't solve the problem and that even legal footing for testimonials "will not impermissibly chill truthful speech in violation of the First Amendment."
The FTC says:
The critical question for determining whether an ad is deceptive under Section 5 of the FTC Act – for all advertising, whether or not testimonials are involved – is what is the net impression consumers take away from the ad as a whole.
The revised language in Section 255.2 would come into play only if a truthful testimonial: (1) conveys to consumers that the testimonialist's results are "representative of what consumers will generally achieve with the advertised product or service in actual, albeit variable, conditions of use"; and (2) the advertiser does not have adequate substantiation for that claim.
So it seems like all spectacularly amazing and unusual results will need to be clearly portrayed as spectacularly amazing and unusual from now on. Acting like the results are normal and slapping "results not typical" underneath isn't going to cut it. Seems like it'll be a real headache for infomercial producers.
Here's the final word on the matter from the FTC (emphasis ours):
The effect of the revision at issue is to treat ads that use testimonials the same as all other ads. Section 5 of the FTC Act requires advertisers to have substantiation for the messages that consumers reasonably take from their ads, which means they must first know what messages consumers take away from those ads. The Commission sees no reason why an advertiser should be exempt from those basic obligations simply because it chooses to communicate its claims through the use of testimonials; yet, that is precisely the effect of the safe harbor afforded by the 1980 Guides. Accordingly, the Commission concludes that the safe harbor for non-typical testimonials accompanied by disclaimers of typicality should be eliminated.
FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials [FTC]
Guides Concerning the Use of
Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (PDF) [FTC]
(Photo:cecildadj)
@Daveinva: lulz!
]]>@ArcanaJ: I was about to say, the picture there makes that woman look like a muffin.
Fluffy top and everything.
]]>Canada must have something similar to this. I was presented with a brochure for Market America, an at-home business which looked to me like a pyramid scheme (the person who gave me the brochure insists it isn't, though diagrams in the brochure were actual pyramids) Anyway, at the back of the 10 page brochure was a chart showing exactly what percentages of people who join the program make specific dollar amounts. The chart claimed to satisfy some Canadian rule, though I don't have the brochure right now to say exactly which one. Once I looked at that chart, I had no doubts it was something I wanted to stay far away from.
]]>If I could bottle that and sell it, I'd be a millionaire.
Until the lawsuits came in.
]]>@GitEmSteveDave_IsWaving: Well I gained 70 pounds and it did! [Results not typical]
]]>SHOULD BE, not WILL BE. I'll wait and see.
]]>Judging from that picture, it does not appear that their product works very well... No need for the "Results Not Typical" warning for that one :)
]]>Careful not to confuse the two.
We haven't lived in a free market since I've been alive on this planet.
]]>In reality, my advice if you want to lose weight without a massive overhaul in your diet (or eating those tv dinners...(shhh...lean cuisine is not that bad!)) is to avoid high fructose corn syrup and sugar in general. Maybe 20-30 grams a day and that's it, but preferably from food, fruits, and vegetables (I think tomatoes have sugar in them).
I wouldn't recommend substituting sugar with splenda or nutrasweet because that will make you sick, especially if you don't have any sugar in your diet.
When I stopped using sugar I lost 15-20 pounds, still eating the same crap. I believe it's because without the sugar your body breaks down fat to get energy. But I'm not a nutritionist so I don't know.
]]>No takers!
]]>@calchip: I agree with you that it's nice to see the FTC do something. But, the devil in me likes the fact that this is somewhat social Darwinism; some people have to learn the hard way that earning $40,000 in one month doing (almost) nothing at home probably isn't going to happen. I think it forces people to cope with their greed (doing nothing but getting something) or, perhaps, how stupid they are.
]]>So you can have someone say "I am thrilled with the weight loss that happened on the All Bodily Fluid Diet." especially if the warranty is in the form of "if you are not thrilled with it return it".
Of course if you have over 50% returns this would be considered atypical, but that would be very rare even if you were shipping out complete garbage. So basically as long as your returns are ok, you can say that.
Expect lots more emotive statements.
]]>Wow, I can't beleive that diet industry lobbists weren't able to bribe someone, or put lots of $$$ into the right campaign coffers to get out of this.
]]>So, in the end, you don't so much look thinner, as you look like an escapee from the Fuzzy Pumper Blubber Shop.
]]>Real example: "You could lose up to 10 pounds or more!"
Well, think about basic number lines here. Up to 10 is 10 and everything below 10. More than 10 is everything above 10. So this statement means you could lose anything!
]]>If one customer says, "I absolutely love it!" then would you need to have a customer saying "I guess it's okay," to show what a typical customer experiences?
]]>Just a weird-looking, barrel-chested little dog, any way you slice it.someone needs to show that woman a photo of a corgi.]]>
How many options did you have in your underwear, pray tell?
]]>@GitEmSteveDave_IsWaving: I don't see that happening because we all know the only reason to lose weight is to gain that mansion and become mate-able
]]>@Nidoking: Queue the-necessary-per-each-season fight with chicken
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, I'd think his results would be pretty typical if someone ate a small veggie sandwich for lunch and a small sandwich for meat without tons of mayo or cheese every single day. They made it clear in the initial ad campaign that he was eating the lowest calorie items on the menu, not getting something like a foot long BMT that would have 900 calories.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: I especially love the extremely obese, 40 year old men who wear "NO FAT CHICKS" shirts
The irony still hasn't rubbed off on me and I laugh everytime
]]>@Notsewfast: Brilliant!
]]>Seems pretty honest. I did that too, by working for minimum wage at McDonald's. I don't think that's what they were shilling though.
]]>Thank goodness we now have an FTC that is actually doing what it is supposed to do. Amazing how 8+ years of "free market" approach to enforcing existing laws has led to nothing but lies, deceptions, and fraud in advertising... and in mortgages... and in just about everything else :)
]]>- You'll lose "up to" 2 tons by taking these pills: Jill did it, and you could to.
- You "could be" entitled to millions!
Actually "may" is better than "could", you can avoid accenting more and it's a softer word....
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: Yeah, I know he did things the right way, but I still thought there was that disclaimer in their ads with him.
]]>@downwithmonstercable: I'm expecting more commercials that sound like scenes from Family Guy.
"While I was taking Ambien, I sleepwalked and beat my wife. But I'm not married. So who the heck did I hit?"
]]>@Jfielder23: If you mean Jared Fogle, the Subway spokesman, his results are only typical of people who actually plan a good diet, exercise, and stick to a regimen. He was told by doctors that his health was in serious danger, and he really took the time and effort to lose weight. He got there the legitimate way, by modifying his diet and exercising.
]]>@downwithmonstercable: Instead of, "I lost 40 pounds!" it will be "I lost -40 pounds!"
]]>Before:
After:
(Results not typical)
]]>But.... what will happen to Jarred?
]]>@Applekid: Maybe the results will become 'atypical'?
]]>@thehouserules: Yeah must've just been me. We still use IE6 at work :P
]]>I might actually have to start watching commercials again if only to see what these companies come up with to counter this. This is quite a curveball.
]]>@downwithmonstercable: scratch that, it's gone now O_O
]]>@thehouserules: Is anyone else seeing the weird formatting on this comment? Is this the "new" disemvowelling?
]]>I foresee extreme backlash from the diet pill, exercise equipment, and penis enlargement industries.
Seriously though, this is totally shocking to me. I'm genuinely curious to see how advertising for the various diet programs and exercise equipment companies change.
]]>"I made $40,000 the first month trading options in my underwear! (results not typical)"
I hate seeing these infomercials, because I automatically sympathize with the people who I know are going to fall for them.
]]>A few weeks ago, I was on my way home and there was a girl on the train who wore a shirt that said, "Don't hate me because you ain't me" only the word "because" was stretched so far across her body that all you could see was "don't hate me caus you ain't me" ...the rest of the letters were so far to the sides you couldn't see them.
I say this so that I may be reminded that there are people who still wear shirts much too small for them, and not in the way Right Said Fred hoped for.
]]>...My phone would have been ringing off the hook as people tried to lose 45 lbs in one day!
]]>