Not sure anything frustrated me more in my CPG (consumer packaged goods) days than a competitor making a blatantly false ad claim. Long before the term ‘fake news’ took hold, false advertising was (and still is), in my opinion, the unsurpassed bad example of faking out the public.

Seeing 2020 was a big year for the National Advertising Division (NAD) in terms of false U.S. advertising cases filed/decided, my mind drifted back to my personal battles with the false ad villain. I typed villain (singular) and not villains (plural) because my experience was with one competitor that had no conscience when it came falsifying reality.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I encountered; one case of false ad puffery and another of false advertisement of consumer savings.

We are the #1 selling brand in the (product) category was a competitive claim I faced. This shout-out, despite the fact my brand was the #1 seller by a three-to-one ratio. The key issue in my case centered on the channel; in this instance the grocery aka consumer channel. This competitor was virtually a non-factor in consumer use where the false claim was being made. Granted they did sell big volume in the commercial or foodservice channel, but channel context is crucial in false ad claims. We won and the competitor had to stop printing baking aisle packaging with the false #1 selling claim.

Not to miss a beat, they came out with ‘bonus size’ packaging claiming 1/3 of the package size was free. Nothing is wrong with this claim, provided it exists on-shelf for less than 6 months/year. One day longer and it’s the new normal everyday price. Slightly after 6 months we’d seen enough to challenge again their false advertising (again, same party). The filing was in federal court. We eventually got their attention and they altered their false ad claim on-pack.

The batting average of success is not the crux of this story. Not allowing fake news to be disseminated, that’s the story. Those who play by the rules shouldn’t shrug their shoulders watching those who don’t. Stand up brands and companies for your truth-in-advertising rights.