Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ADVERTISING NEWS: Nissan North America and its ad agency settle FTC allegations of deceptive truck marketing, (Jan 23, 2014)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

Nissan North America, Inc. and TBWA Worldwide, Inc., the advertising agency that designed the television advertisements for the mid-sized Nissan Frontier pickup truck, have agreed to settle FTC charges of deceptive advertising for a 30 second ad depicting a Frontier truck pushing a dune buggy up a steep hill which is something that the truck cannot actually do, the FTC announced today. The settlement is part of the FTC’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers from misleading advertising and to show that advertisers cannot misrepresent key product attributes in product demonstrations (In re Matter of Nissan North America, Inc., File No. 122-3010; In re Matter of TBWA Worldwide, Inc., File No. 122-3010).

According to the FTC, Nissan and TBWA promoted the Frontier pickup truck with a “Hill Climb” advertisement that showed the vehicle rescuing a dune buggy trapped in sand on a steep hill, while onlookers observed the feat in amazement. The ad was produced in a realistic “YouTube” style, as if it were shot on a mobile phone video camera.

The complaints allege that Nissan and TBWA violated the FTC Act by representing that the ad accurately showed the performance of an unaltered Nissan Frontier under the conditions that were depicted. In fact, the truck is not capable of pushing the dune buggy up and over the hill, and both the truck and the dune buggy were dragged to the top of the hill by cables, according to the complaints. Also, the hill was made to look significantly steeper than it actually was.

Under the proposed consent orders to settle the charges, Nissan and TBWA would be prohibited from using deceptive demonstrations in advertisements for pickup trucks. Specifically, Nissan and TBWA cannot misrepresent any material quality or feature of a pickup truck through the depiction of a test, experiment, or demonstration. The orders do not prohibit the use of special effects and other production techniques as long as they do not misrepresent a material quality or feature of the pickup truck.

“Special effects in ads can be entertaining, but advertisers can’t use them to misrepresent what a product can do,” said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This ad made the Nissan Frontier appear capable of doing something it can’t do.”

Companies: Nissan North America, Inc.; TBWA Worldwide, Inc.

News: Advertising ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews