NAD Determines A Money Back Guarantee Conveys Performance Claim

The Princeton Review advertises its MCAT preparation courses with the following copy: "Score a 515+ on the MCAT or add 15 points depending on your starting score. Guaranteed or your money back." Blueprint Test Preparation filed a challenge before the NAD arguing that The Princeton Review must be able to substantiate that its students will score 515+ or add 15 points. The Princeton Review argued that it wasn't making a performance claim – it was simply offering a money-back guarantee.

Most NAD cases dealing with money-back guarantees have focused on whether the terms of the guarantee are clearly disclosed. NAD has noted, though, that even if those terms are clearly disclosed, a money-back guarantee may also convey a performance claim. The question is what reasonable consumers will take away from an ad. Here, NAD determined that although The Princeton Review had clearly disclosed its guarantee, consumers could still take away a broader message about how they're likely