• June 19, 2007

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Monday urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to reject a proposed change in its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The ANA filed a detailed letter with the commission arguing that the current guides reflect "an appropriate balance between the government's interest in protecting consumers and the interests of marketers in using endorsements and testimonials when communicating with consumers."

The Guides currently allow marketers to use testimonials that are not generally representative of what consumers can expect from the advertised product so long as the marketers clearly and conspicuously disclose either (1) what the generally expected performance would be in the depicted circumstances, or (2) the limited applicability of the depicted results to what consumers can generally expect to receive; i.e., that the depicted results are not representative or typical. The change proposed by the FTC would require all marketers to (1) conduct pre-publication proof of "generally expected results" and (2) to disclose the typical experience a consumer could expect to receive.