FTC ‘advertising cop’ discusses ethics

Photo by Ben Weller

FTC attorney Lesley Fair calls herself an "advertising cop" because of the work she does to combat false or misleading advertising.

Lesley Fair, attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection who specializes in advertising ethics, visited three classes Wednesday to talk about the truth of false advertising.

Assistant professor Tony Fargo invited Fair to campus to talk to his and professor Jon Dilts’ J300 Communications Law classes and visiting professor Craig Wood’s J438 Advertising Issues and Research class. He said Fair’s talk was relevant to students in these classes “because she works with advertising regulation on a daily basis [and] has well-informed and unique insights into the law regarding the marketing of products.”

Fair specializes in advertising and marketing in new media. She has represented the FTC as trial council in cases involving Norelco, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Gut Buster and Synchronal Corporation.

“I am an advertising cop,” Fair began, as she explained the reasons her work affects all parts of media or business-related fields. She talked about the symbiotic relationship between business and journalists and the importance of ethics in the lives of every person no matter the profession.

Fair discussed the ethics of advertising by giving examples of consumer behavior in response to false advertising. She said an ad is “deceptive” if it is likely to mislead consumers who are acting reasonably under the circumstances and if this influences the consumers decision to buy or use the product. An ad is “unfair” if it is likely to cause substantial consumer injury, physical or economic, that is not reasonably avoidable by the consumers themselves.

Fair gave examples of false advertising with familiar advertisements. One ad for Klondike Lite chocolate-covered ice cream bars reads, “If you don’t believe that something lite can taste delicious, then try the new Klondike Lite. It’s 93% fat-free.” But the FTC found that only the ice cream was 93% fat-free.

Photo by Ben Weller

As an example, Fair told about Volvo’s manipulation of cars shown in an ad that made its car appear indestructible. The company said the ad was a joke; the FTC said it misled consumers.

“Unless someone were to buy the product, open it up, slurp up all the ice cream, and then throw the chocolate away, the ad was deceptive,” Fair said.

She showed how false advertising can be seen in all types of media, including print, television, radio and Internet. Her examples included Volvo, Wonder Bread, KFC and Norelco ads that conveyed false or implied messages.

A Volvo ad showed a line of cars in a monster truck rally in which all car roofs were crushed except that of the Volvo’s, with the tagline: “A car you can believe in.” The FTC found that Volvo had severed the roof supports of the other cars and built a steel cage in the Volvo’s roof. Volvo said the FTC had no sense of humor, and the commercial was a joke, but FTC worried that the way the video could make mislead consumers about Volvo’s true safety.

“Many times, it’s not even the company’s fault, but if it misleads the consumer in a different way than the truth, then (the FTC) takes action,” Fair said.