Edited by
Jeffrey D. Knowles 
and
Gary D. Hailey
ANALYSIS
It's Not Easy to "Act Naturally"
The Beatles and Buck Owens told us all we have to do is "act naturally." That sounds like good advice unless you're a food company trying to weather the tsunami of "all natural" consumer class action lawsuits, writes Venable partner Leonard L. Gordon in a recent post to Venable's advertising law blog. Gordon's post chronicles snack food giant Frito-Lay's attempt to use guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a shield in one such class action and the failure of that strategy.
Gordon also discusses why a lack of federal guidance on what constitutes "all natural foods" leaves marketers facing these lawsuits at the mercy of subjective judgments about how a "reasonable consumer" might interpret a particular claim.
Click here to read the full text of Gordon's post to Venable's advertising law blog, www.allaboutadvertisinglaw.com.
Facebook Changes the Rules of the Game – Again
Last week, social media titan Facebook announced revisions to its rules for companies administering and advertising prize promotions on the social media platform. In a recent post to Venable's advertising law blog, www.allaboutadvertisinglaw.com, Venable attorneys Melissa Landau Steinman and Mikhia E. Hawkins detail what has changed, what has remained the same, and how marketers now have significantly more freedom when running prize promotions on the world's most popular social media site.
Click here to read the full text of the blog post by Steinman and Hawkins.
Click here to download Facebook's guide to the updated promotions rules.
NEWS
FTC Dents Dealers' Deceptive Auto Ads
On September 3, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had settled allegations of deceptive advertising by two automobile dealerships in Maryland and Ohio. The settlements, writes the FTC's Lesley Fair in a post to the Commission's Business Center Blog, teach important lessons about advertised pricing and disclosures for all types of marketers, not just those in the auto business.
Click here to read the full text of Fair's post on the FTC's blog and access additional information about the settlements.
Venable's Jeff Knowles Profiled in Electronic Retailer
The September 2013 edition of Electronic Retailer magazine profiles Jeffrey D. Knowles, chair of Venable's Advertising, Marketing and New Media Practice. The piece highlights the role Knowles has played in the direct response industry and in the creation and growth of the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA). Knowles will receive ERA's Lifetime Achievement Award later this month at the association's annual meeting.
Click here to read the profile of Knowles.
Click here to listen to a podcast of the profile.
Don't Miss Venable at ERA D2C
Venable is a proud sponsor of the Electronic Retailing Association's D2C Convention on September 24- 26, 2013 in Las Vegas. Join our attorneys as they honor Venable partner Jeffrey D. Knowles, recipient of the ERA Lifetime Achievement Award, and present two educational sessions.
Venable partner Gregory J. Sater will present "Beauty and Fitness: Making Your Marketing Dollars Count!" on Tuesday, September 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PDT. In addition, Venable partner Jeffrey D. Knowles will moderate a panel titled "Don't Risk Revenue: Three R's Every Marketer Must Know" on Tuesday, September 24 from 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. PDT.
Network with other marketers before the Moxie Awards Gala at the Venable-sponsored Pre-Moxie Awards Mixer on Thursday, September 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PDT. All Access Pass holders and guests of Venable are encouraged to attend. Expo hall pass holders who want to attend should visit Venable's booth (#909) to be added to the guest list.
To obtain a discounted exhibit hall pass that will allow you access to the expo as a Venable guest, click here and register using the code EI320D26.
If you are attending ERA D2C and are interested in scheduling a conversation with a Venable attorney, click here to send us an email.
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