Telebrands Commits to Discontinue Claims for ‘Amish Secret’ Furniture Polish Following Challenge by S.C. Johnson

New York, NY – July 14, 2015  – Telebrands, Inc., has said that it will discontinue product demonstrations and superiority, disparagement and pricing claims for the company’s Amish Secret Furniture Cleaner, following an inquiry from the National Advertising Division.

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

The claims at issue were challenged by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., and included:

• “Furniture polishes are a nasty, greasy mess, and over time attract dust like a magnet.”
• “Forget oily sprays.  Amish Secret cleans layers of built-up wax, revealing a fresh, lasting shine without leaving a sticky, oily residue.”
• “Amish Secret keeps[s] your wood furniture dust-free longer!”
• Amish Secret “removes months of built up wax.”
• “It cleans and protects in one easy step, providing a nourished, beautiful shine!”
• “Clean, polish and restore with Amish Secret for just $10.”
• “We guarantee our handmade formula will nourish your wood and restore that fresh clean shine, or you’ll get your money back.”

Upon receiving NAD’s initial inquiry, the advertiser advised NAD that it had, for business reasons, decided to permanently discontinue the challenged claims and advertising and would do so in a timely manner.

NAD noted in its decision that it appreciated the advertiser’s promise to immediately discontinue all of the challenged claims and advertisements, in lieu of providing substantiation, an action NAD deemed necessary and proper given the lack of supporting evidence in the record.

Telebrands, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company “believes that the advertising claims it makes regarding the Amish Secret Furniture Cleaner are truthful and accurate, but in the interest of expeditiously resolving the current challenge and for business reasons, it has voluntarily agreed to permanently discontinue the challenged claims in a timely manner.”