NARB ProgramBackgrounds

National Advertising Review Board

The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is the appellate body for the U.S. system of advertising industry self-regulation. Five-member NARB panels hear cases appealing an NAD or CARU decision and provide independent industry peer review, ensuring truthfulness and accuracy in national advertising and helping promote voluntary compliance of its decisions—a key pillar of industry self-regulation.

Program Impact

NARB, established in 1971 as a fair and impartial appellate body, reviews appealed NAD or CARU decisions. Nominated by various leading organizations in the advertising industry, NARB members are selected for their stature and experience in their fields. 

 

 

Truth & Transparency

When a competitor’s advertising harms consumer trust or threatens a company’s reputation and market share, the advertising self-regulatory system creates a level-playing field for business and helps ensure consumers receive truthful and accurate advertising.

Compliance

After a decision, NARB or the challenger can check in on whether the advertiser has made appropriate modifications to its advertising and has 10 days to respond. The case is closed if there is a good faith effort to bring their advertising into compliance.

Non-Compliance

In cases of lack of good faith efforts to modify or discontinue advertising as a result of a NARB decision, NARB will refer the case to an appropriate government agency, usually the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
 

For the last 50 years in the advertising industry, companies have held each other to a higher standard. In response to the pressures and criticisms of consumerism that had mounted during the previous decade, in 1971 the advertising industry established the National Advertising Division (NAD) and National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the U.S. mechanism of independent self-regulation that has stood the test of time and technological innovation.

 

Visit NAD50th.org

Guidelines & Procedures


Any advertiser or challenger has the right to appeal NAD’s decision to NARB. An advertiser has an automatic right of appeal. A challenger must request permission to appeal from the NARB chair and explain why it believes there is a substantial likelihood NARB would come to a different conclusion on a case than NAD. 

 

News & Blog

Press Release

BBB National Programs Announces 91 Distinguished Panel Pool Members for 2023 National Advertising Review Board

McLean, VA – January 10, 2023 – BBB National Programs today announced the 91 panel pool members of the 2023 National Advertising Review Board, the appellate body for the U.S. advertising industry’s system of self-regulation, selected for their stature and experience in their fields.

Read the Press Release
Press Release

FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya to Keynote NAD 2022, Annual Conference of BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division

New York, NY – August 30, 2022 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) will host the NAD 2022 Annual Conference next month in Washington, D.C., on Monday, September 19 and Tuesday, September 20. NAD 2022 will be an in-person event for the first time since 2019, drawing speakers from across the advertising law...

Read the Press Release
Blog

Beauty Product Claims & the NAD: Why Substantiation Matters

Substantiating product claims is required by law and may help brands avoid an inquiry from the FTC or other regulatory bodies. The founders of The Benchmarking Company, a consumer research firm for the beauty and personal care industries, interviewed NAD attorney Jennifer Santos to uncover what every brand should know about NAD.
Read more
Blog

Unsubstantiated Claims May Lead to Civil Penalties

The U.S. economy is built on a fair and transparent product marketplace. It is the responsibility of companies to have adequate substantiation for health and safety claims and to hold their competitors to the same standard.
Read more

 

 

 

Decisions

Decision

National Advertising Review Board Refers Smile Prep’s Clear Aligners Advertising to FTC After Compliance Review

New York, NY – September 27, 2023 – The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has referred advertising claims made by Smile Prep to the FTC for review and possible enforcement action after the company declined to accept NARB recommendations to modify certain claims and disclosures on its website. 

Read the Decision Summary
Decision

National Advertising Review Board Refers Certain Advertising Claims for Xfinity Mobile to Federal Trade Commission

New York, NY – August 9, 2023 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has referred advertising claims made by Comcast Cable Communications to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for review after the company declined to comply with NARB’s recommendations to modify or discontinue certain advertising claims for...

Read the Decision Summary
Decision

National Advertising Division Recommends MacuHealth Discontinue or Modify Certain Claims for Several Brands of Eye Health Dietary Supplements

New York, NY – September 21, 2023 – In a challenge brought by Vision Elements, the National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that MacuHealth modify or discontinue certain claims for its dietary supplement products.  

Read the Decision Summary
Decision

National Advertising Division Refers Advertising by SBLA Beauty to the Federal Trade Commission for Review for Failure to Participate

New York, NY – September 21, 2023 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) has referred advertising claims made by SBLA Beauty, Inc. to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the company failed to provide a substantive response to NAD’s inquiry.    

Read the Decision Summary

 

BBB National Programs provides summaries of all case decisions in the Case Decision Summary library. For the full text of National Advertising Division, National Advertising Review Board, and Children’s Advertising Review Unit decisions, subscribe to the Online Archive. For members of the press, the full text of any BBB National Programs decision is available by emailing the request to press@bbbnp.org

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

 

 

Contact Us