Attention Green Marketers: FTC Wants to Change What You Can Say
If you market “green” products, heads up: the FTC wants to change what you can legally say in your advertising. With a nod to the growing demand for green products and the unfortunate rise of “greenwashing” as a marketing practice, the FTC wants to make it harder for marketers to broadly claim they are “green” or “eco-friendly”. However, three popular phrases – “sustainable”, “natural” and “organic” – are not covered by the proposal. The FTC says these terms are already covered under Department of...
read moreHow New FTC Rules Affect Your Testimonials
Marie Osmond says she lost 40 pounds with NutriSystem, so the FTC says that better mean I can expect to lose 40 pounds if I try NutriSystem, too. The truth is no longer good enough for the FTC. With its new rules that take effect December 1, 2009, the FTC acknowledges that while a statement may be technically true, it can also be misleading or downright deceptive. This change in guidelines may affect your business if you use endorsements or testimonials in your marketing. Here’s what you need to know in order to stay clear of an investigation. What are your typical results? Say you...
read moreCAN-SPAM: Are You Obeying the Law?
You’d never intentionally spam anyone. But that may not matter. According to Marketing Sherpa’s 2008 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, 21% of business professionals surveyed said they use the “spam” button to unsubscribe from lists – regardless of whether they opted in to the list in the first place. And 39% said they use the “spam” button often or very often. So how do you avoid getting reported as a spammer? What does the law say? In December of 2003, Congress established the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM). This law...
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