CARU Recommends Hampton Direct Modify Broadcast Ad for ‘Lumi Dough,’ Company Agrees to Do So

New York, NY – Aug. 7, 2014 – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit has recommended that Hampton Direct modify broadcast advertising for the company’s “Lumi Dough” product to better disclose to children the products included in an initial purchase. The company has agreed to do so.

CARU is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

CARU monitors advertising to children in all media. CARU also examines websites and apps for compliance with CARU’s Self-Regulatory Program for Children’s Advertising – which includes guidelines on online privacy protection – as well as with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Lumi Dough is a luminous silicone product for children ages four and up. Lumi Dough stretches like rubber and molds like dough. A package of Lumi Dough comes with five sheets of glowing dough in clear, green, pink, purple, blue and black. However, CARU noted, the advertising at issue feature molded creations in colors that also included orange, yellow, sky blue, purple, black and white and appeared to feature more projects than could reasonably been made with five sheets of the product.

After carefully considering all the evidence in the record, CARU concluded that the commercial did not clearly communicate what comes with an initial purchase of Lumi Dough. CARU recommended the company modify its advertising to make clear what comes with an initial purchase of the advertised product.

Hampton Direct, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company values CARU’s role “administering and monitoring advertising directed towards children keeping in mind the ‘vulnerability and susceptibility’ of children. We respect the CARU Guidelines. Accordingly, in this case, we accept CARU’s decision in its entirety and agree to modify our advertising.”