NARB ProgramBackgrounds

National Advertising Review Board

The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is the advertising self-regulation industry’s appellate body. 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).

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 85 Distinguished Members of 2021 National Advertising Review Board Panel

McLean, VA – January 5, 2021 – BBB National Programs today announced the 2021 Panel Pool Members for its National Advertising Review Board, the appellate body for the U.S. advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. The National Advertising Review Board panel pool members, selected for their stature and experience in...
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Press Release

BBB National Programs Partners with Facebook to Strengthen Truth-in-Advertising Enforcement on the Social Network's U.S. Platform

New York, NY – December 2, 2020 – Taking an important step to advance the effectiveness of its quick and efficient self-regulatory programs, BBB National Programs today announced a new National Advertising Division (NAD) partnership with Facebook. 

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Blog

Harmful Stereotyping in Advertising Must Not Be a “Forever Problem”

Though the annual celebration of Black History Month is drawing to a close, the plethora of issues raised by the study of Black history must always remain top of mind. For those of us who work in truth in advertising at BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division (NAD), we are paying very close attention to the issues of diversity and stereotyping, as presented in various forms of advertising. Developing a mechanism to addressing representation in advertisements would not be simple, but the time is now to start the conversation. Harmful stereotypes in advertising must not be a forever problem.
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Blog

5 Tips for Truthful and Transparent Influencer Marketing and Product Reviews

BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division is dedicated to truth-in-advertising. To help you ensure that influencer marketing and the use of product reviews in your advertising is both transparent and truthful, we offer the following five tips.
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Decisions

Decision

NARB Recommends AT&T Disclose Material Connections When Citing Testing Company Data, Modify “Building 5G on America’s Best Network” Claim

A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) has recommended that AT&T Services, Inc. clearly and conspicuously disclose its material connection to Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) when making a “Best Network” claim that is based on GWS testing. The NARB panel also...

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Decision

NARB Recommends Comcast Discontinue or Modify “Best In-Home WiFi Experience” Claim and Discontinue its “Roommate” Commercial

A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising law body of BBB National Programs, has recommended that Comcast Cable Communications, LLC d

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Decision

NAD Recommends T-Mobile Modify Post-Merger 5G Claims to Avoid Implication that Aspirational Benefits are Imminently Available

New York, NY – February 23, 2021 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that T-Mobile, U.S., Inc. modify certain advertising claims that imply imminent availability of certain promoted benefits to T-Mobile customers as...

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Decision

NAD Recommends Nanoceutical Solutions Discontinue Certain Claims for Nano Glutathione Liquid Dietary Supplement and Modify Instagram Ad

The National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that Nanoceutical Solutions discontinue efficacy and establishment claims for its Nano Glutathione liquid dietary supplement due to a failure to provide sufficient evidence for the claims. The claims at issue were challenged by the Council for...

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