United States: Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Enforcement Actions

FTC v. Volkswagen Grp. of Am., Inc., No. 3:16-cv-01534 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 31, 2016)  

The FTC has charged that Volkswagen Group of America Inc. deceived consumers with its advertising campaign to promote supposedly "clean diesel" vehicles that were fitted with illegal emission defeat devices designed to mask high emissions during government tests. The FTC is seeking a court order requiring Volkswagen to compensate American consumers who bought or leased an affected vehicle between late 2008 and late 2015, as well as an injunction to prevent Volkswagen from engaging in this type of conduct again. View the decision.

Lord & Taylor, LLC, No. 152-3181 (F.T.C. Mar. 15, 2016)   

National retailer Lord & Taylor settled FTC charges that it deceived consumers by failing to disclose that the social media posts of "fashion influencers" and native advertisements placed in the online publication Nylon actually were paid promotions for the company's 2015 Design Lab clothing collection. The FTC complaint charged that as part of the Design Lab rollout in 2015, Lord & Taylor paid 50 online fashion bloggers to post Instagram pictures of themselves wearing the same paisley dress from the new collection, but failed to disclose that Lord & Taylor had given each influencer the dress, as well as thousands of dollars, in exchange for the endorsement. In settling the charges, Lord & Taylor entered into a 20-year cease and desist order prohibiting it from misrepresenting that paid ads are from an independent source, and the retailer is required to ensure that its influencers clearly disclose when they have been compensated in exchange for their endorsements. The FTC's enforcement action against Lord & Taylor was the first such action brought by the Commission after the release of its December 2015 Enforcement Policy Statement on "Native" Advertising and Deceptively Formatted Advertisements. View the decision.

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