The Southern District of New York dismissed a putative class action against Bimbo Bakeries (the parent company of Entenmann’s) that alleged the packaging on Entenmann’s “All Butter Loaf Cake” was misleading because the product contained soybean oil and artificial flavors, not only butter.
Continue Reading Bimbo Bakeries Beats Back All-Butter Label Suit
Deborah Bessner
Joint Commitment: Alcohol Producers and Major Agencies Create Standards for Influencer Alcohol Marketing
The International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), which represents major global alcohol producers, partnered with leading advertising, public relations and influencer agencies to sign an Influencer Pledge that sets standards and rules for influencers who market alcohol on social channels. The Pledge is meant to prevent influencer alcohol marketing from reaching minors and to encourage influencers to promote responsible drinking. In addition to the Pledge, the companies created a set of five safeguards applicable to influencers that work with alcohol brands.
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Facebook Demolishes Housing Ad Discrimination Suit
The Northern District of California has dismissed for the third and final time a proposed discrimination class action against Facebook that challenged Facebook’s former tool that allowed advertisers to select target audiences for their housing advertisements in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. Plaintiffs alleged that this tool could exclude protected classes of consumers from seeing certain advertisers’ housing ads. Facebook moved to dismiss, arguing that plaintiffs lacked standing and its publishing conduct was protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
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Sweet Victory: Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Trader Joe’s Honey False Ad Suit
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit that alleged Trader Joe’s Manuka Honey product labeling was misleading. Trader Joe’s marketed its store brand Manuka honey as “100% New Zealand Manuka Honey” or “New Zealand Manuka Honey.” Plaintiffs claimed that these labels were misleading because the honey only consisted of between 57.3% and 62.6% honey derived from Manuka flower nectar. Plaintiffs alleged that the label and ingredient list created a “false impression” that the Trader Joe’s honey contained a higher percentage of honey derived from Manuka.
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So Fresh and So Clean: Wet Ones Wipes Suit Dismissed
On June 7, 2021, the Southern District of California dismissed a case against Edgewell Personal Care, Co., alleging that defendants’ label on its “Wet Ones” antibacterial hand wipes was false and deceptive. Plaintiff brought a putative class action against defendants for making misleading representations about the efficacy and skin safety of its hand wipes. The suit was filed under the California Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), False Advertising Law (“FAL”), and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”).
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Score One for the Student Athletes: NCAA Adopts Interim Name, Image, Likeness Policy
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has officially adopted interim policy changes that will allow college athletes the opportunity to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). This change comes on the heels of NCAA v. Alston, discussed here, where the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the NCAA violated anti-trust laws when it limited education-related benefits a college or university could offer student athletes. We previously wrote about the NCAA’s adoption of a new rule allowing elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes to have “additional training expenses” paid without jeopardizing their NCAA eligibility. This new policy goes well beyond the NCAA’s previous rule.
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Maryland Legalizes Sports Betting and College Athletes’ Image Ownership
In May 2020, Maryland made two major moves in the sports world: it legalized sports betting and passed a law allowing college athletes to profit from their names, images, and likeness.
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Are Virtual Branded Worlds the Future?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had immeasurable effects on consumers and how they engage with brands, with the elimination of in-person consumer interactions for nearly a year. As a result, some brands are taking consumers’ entrance into the metaverse one step further by developing virtual worlds that allow the consumer to engage with the brand in…