Business: Check That Claim

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U.S. admen often tout their clients' products with such boasts as "lowest priced in its field," "recommended by more physicians," or "three times longer-wearing." Last week the Federal Trade Commission moved to check the claims. Prodded by Ralph Nader and other consumer advocates, the FTC decided that it will issue periodic orders to companies to submit proof of their ad pitches relating to safety, performance, efficiency, quality and comparative prices. The first orders are expected to go to auto companies, probably within three months, and the FTC later will focus on other big advertisers, industry by industry.

The commission will continue to wink at what it calls "traditionally accepted puffery"—for example, a manufacturer claiming that its product "tastes great!" But any advertiser who makes factually inaccurate or misleading claims will risk an FTC complaint order as well as bad publicity. The commission will make its findings public, and admen foresee many legal battles over FTC interpretations of truth and deception.

"We brought it on ourselves," says James Durfee, president of the Carl Ally agency. He predicts that advertising will now concentrate on "creating a good feeling" for the product instead of making specific claims. As a result, the consumer may get less product information. Grey Advertising President Edward Meyer takes a brighter view: "Now that the facts will be on file, people will be less skeptical about ads."