No Apparent Sunset For NAD Decisions

At the FTC if a party is investigated and the FTC believes ad claims were not substantiated, a company can settle and typically commits not to repeat the claims at issue unless there is adequate substantiation. In the case of health claims, of course, this is competent and reliable scientific evidence that may be defined with some precision to include one or two clinical trials. But even the worst offenders have the opportunity to make the same claims if they later obtain the necessary level of support.

Apparently not at NAD. If a decision recommends discontinuing a claim and an advertiser agrees, the NAD will not consider new evidence down the road. This has long been their rule and the rationale is that NAD cannot be in the position with compliance monitoring to reopen cases anew. And this makes sense given the lean staffing at NAD. At least up to a point.