March 5, 2008
SPECIAL ALERT:
Consumer Products Safety Commission
The U.S. House and Senate are currently considering legislation to "modernize" the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The bills are wide-ranging, but the version being considered in the Senate includes provisions that are especially problematic for advertising. The Senate bill calls for any advertisement for a toy, game, balloon, small ball or marble that requires a cautionary statement to include the statement in or immediately adjacent to the ad.
The House passed bill would require the entire cautionary statement in any ad that provides a direct means to purchase the toy—such as Internet or catalog advertising. The Senate bill ( S. 2045) would especially place undue burdens on advertising by compelling inclusion of the warning language in all advertisements. In addition, the mandated speech would likely violate the First Amendment guarantees of commercial free speech. Warning language on packaging is appropriate and sufficient. Timing is uncertain, but the Senate could consider the bill as
soon as this week. Senators need to hear from the industry that this provision must be deleted. Contact information for your senators can be found at:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
OTHER NEWS:
FTC Plans Green Guides Workshop
The Federal Trade Commission has announced it will hold a second public workshop on April 30 as the agency continues its review of the "Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims," or Green Guides. The workshop will focus on new green packaging claims such as "sustainable" and "renewable" and the consumer perception of such claims. Additionally, the FTC said it will examine third-party certification programs that verify environmental impact. The guides were last revised in 1998.
Nielsen Study Finds Many Americans Unprepared for Digital TV Transition
A new study released by Nielsen found that 13 million households have television sets equipped only for analog broadcasts and are currently unprepared for the digital television transition. An additional six million households have at least one television that will not work once the analog-to-digital transition is completed on February 19, 2009. These numbers amount to 10 percent of households with only analog broadcast capabilities and 17 percent of households with at least one television currently incapable of receiving digital broadcasts. In order to continue to receive television signals, consumers must purchase a new digital TV, purchase a converter box or subscribe to a cable or satellite subscription service.
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