An increasing number of celebrities and social media personalities are endorsing the use of cannabidiol (CBD) products through social media. Many of these “influencers,” however, fail to take into account and comply with the complex regulatory environment surrounding CBD advertisements, which can have consequences for CBD companies themselves. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both limit the use of certain language in CBD endorsements. As…

The FTC continues policing business-to-business deception and its focus on small-business financing. On June 10, 2020, the FTC filed a Complaint in the Southern District of New York against two New York-based companies and several of their owners and officers for allegedly violating the FTC Act in connection with their business financing activities. According to the Complaint, the defendants targeted small businesses, medical offices, non-profit organizations, and religious organizations. Since 2015, defendants allegedly deceived these…

Financial services advertising and marketing occurs in an increasingly regulated and evolving legal landscape.  This quick hit with attorneys from Venable LLP explored the latest legal trends and developments in financial services advertising and marketing. Topics included: COVID-19 impact on consumer and business lending advertising; lead generation, influencer, and other emerging marketing methods; regulatory outlook at the FTC, CFPB, banking agencies, and states; emerging trends in government investigations, competitor challenges, litigation defense, and more.  …

Two recent decisions by the National Advertising Division (NAD) provide a helpful reminder to companies that material connections must be disclosed on their seemingly independent websites — so-called native advertisements. Notably, one of the cases arose from the NAD’s routine monitoring program, but both serve as a good reminder that without proper disclosures, consumers may not be aware that they are reading a potential advertisement as opposed to editorial content. Last month, Amerisleep, LLC was…

The perfect addition to any project is music. Whether you are making a video advertisement for your product; including music in your posts on your company website, TikTok, or YouTube; posting an at-home workout video for your clients; using music at corporate events; or playing music at your bar or restaurant – music is a vital part of society. Music is also the most common reason your content may be muted or taken down from…

In a victory for plaintiffs bringing Lanham Act claims to protect their trademarks, the Supreme Court held on April 23, 2020, that a plaintiff is not required to show that the defendant “willfully” infringed its trademark in order to recover the defendant’s ill-gotten profits under the Act. The ruling favors Lanham Act false advertising plaintiffs as well. In Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., 140 S. Ct. 1492 (2020), Romag and Fossil signed an agreement…

Last week, the FTC put an end to a New York auto dealer’s discriminatory lending practices as the FTC brought its first Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) case in over ten years. Notably, two Commissioners are now calling for new rules to help further fight deception in the auto finance market. According to both Commissioners, this was the FTC’s first case alleging ECOA violations since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into…