BBB National Programs Blog

When the Children’s Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) passed in 1998, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began to approve industry groups to administer an independent, self-regulatory program that implements protections for children as outlined in the COPPA Rule. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) was the first such group in the U.S. to receive FTC approval. Learn more about what's behind the CARU Safe Harbor seal.

During this year’s National Consumer Protection Week it's worth taking a closer look at how advertising fits into the consumer protection puzzle. Consumer protection is core to our mission at NAD and critical to a robust and competitive marketplace. Here we outline seven distinct advantages of filing an NAD challenge.

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 NAD, we are paying very close attention to the issues of diversity and stereotyping, as presented in various forms of advertising.

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.

As business and nonprofit leaders navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, consumer and stakeholder privacy has become a matter of defining trust. As new digital services and connected devices fueled by personal data flourish, consumers’ reasonable expectation of privacy shifts. If expectations do not match reality, it can lead to gaps in trust and new paths for litigation and regulatory enforcement. In this piece I outline a few 2021 privacy developments business and nonprofit leaders should note.

One way to gauge exactly how far we have come in implementing diversity and inclusion is by analyzing what we see on our screens, particularly in advertising. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) recognizes the special vulnerabilities of children with their limited knowledge, experience, sophistication, and maturity and often places itself in children’s shoes to gain insight when assessing the role advertisement has in shaping their perception.

Truth in advertising is important to protect consumers and help level the playing field for fair competition in the marketplace. This core concept becomes especially important when advertising health-related products, including over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements.

Super Bowl LV was watched by a total of 96.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings provided by CBS Sports, and you may have noticed on social media that we decided to have some fun this year. With a little creative help, we developed a game called #BigGameAdClaim BINGO. Being competitive types, we were looking closely for our industry’s fun phrases such as sustainability claims, anthropomorphic animals, and superior performance claims.

Today, the National Advertising Division (NAD) continues to carry the torch for truth-in-advertising. As the advertising landscape has evolved over the last 50 years, NAD has continued to adapt to new products, new industries, and new advertising media. Laura Brett, Vice President of NAD, and New York Office Lead for BBB National Programs discusses truth-in-advertising trends, hot topics, and issues that lie ahead.

As 2020 draws to a close it is a good time to reflect on learnings about the future of authorized transatlantic data transfer mechanisms. In light of Brexit and continuing developments surrounding Schrems II, we discuss what the structure of the current Privacy Shield Framework can teach us much about what future commercial transfer mechanisms are likely to look like, as well as what businesses can do to shore up their compliance efforts.