New York, NY – March 25, 2009 – The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) has determined that Dynamic Response Group has provided sufficient information to support general product specification claims and voluntarily revised several claims for the Riddex Plus Digital Pest Repeller. However, ERSP recommended that an establishment and performance claims be modified or discontinued. The marketer’s advertising came to ERSP’s attention pursuant to its ongoing monitoring efforts.

ERSP, the electronic direct-response industry’s  self-regulatory  forum, is  administered by   the  Council  of   Better Business  Bureaus  (CBBB)  with  policy  oversight  by   the National Advertising Review Council (NARC).

ERSP’s  inquiry  focused on claims  included  in online  (website  and streaming  video) advertising. Claims at issue in the ERSP  inquiry included:

• “A revolutionary simple plug in device that sends digital pulses through the wiring in your walls driving bugs, roaches, rats, and mice right out of your house forever.”
• “Keep your home pest-free forever!”
• “Riddex Plus uses patented Digital Pulse Technology, powered by  a Freescale Microprocessor, to create an irritating environment for pests inside your walls, chasing them  away from your house while preventing future pests from entering. 100% safe and cruelty-free!”
• “Laboratory tests have proven that Riddex Plus really works!”
• “The number one selling pest control product…”
• “I’ve been using Riddex Plus for 8 years  now. When I was in Florida it got rid of those  flying roaches.  They just left the house. I got one for my  daughter when she heard something running around between the walls at night. Two nights after she plugged it in, no more running. It really works!” [Martha R, Owensboro Kentucky]

ERSP  confirmed that the marketer voluntarily revised several claims in its advertising and  removed  claims   permanent  pest  elimination   (“keep  your  home  pest-free forever!”;  “…driving  bugs, roaches, rats, and mice  right  out of  your house forever.”) and unqualified superiority claims (“The number one selling pest control product”).

Further,  the marketer voluntarily  modified  comparative  claims  ( “the  only repeller that truly  works”) and  testimonials  that lacked  disclosure  language  indicating  the consumer experience was atypical.

However, in light  of a 2003 order entered into by the Federal Trade Commission with the previous manufacturer of Riddex products, which included a review of the same testing submitted to ERSP to support performance claims in the  advertising at issue in this review, ERSP had no alternative but to determine that the marketer’s establishment claim (“Laboratory tests have proven that Riddex Plus really  works!”) and any claims regarding performance results for the product be modified or discontinued.