Red Bull settles false advertising lawsuit for $13M
It turns out a can of sugar-laden energy drink may not spontaneously make you sprout wings after all. According to court documents filed in New York Federal Court, Europe-based energy drink company Red Bull has agreed to pay out up to $13 million US in compensation to settle a class-action suit launched by an upset customer who says the company uses false advertising to promote its product. “The defendant’s prodigious advertising marketing and promotional spending has been used to mislead customers into believing that Red Bull is a superior product worthy of a premium price and has the ability to ‘give you wings’ and provide energy and vitality,” reads the complaint brought forward by New York resident Benjamin Careathers, who has been drinking the product since 2002. [Read more…]CRTC begin anti-spam enforcement
In their first enforcement effort under Canada’s anti-spam legislation, the CRTC has taken down a malware-infected server that was sending out millions of spam e-mails a month. Since the legislation went into effect in July, the CRTC has received over 120,000 complaints and have opened a number of investigations. According to a CRTC release, in July, the Spam Reporting Centre, a recently created non-governmental agency, began receiving complaints about a high volume of spam coming from Access Communications, a Saskatchewan-based Internet service provider. [Read more…]Advertisers latest players to join fight against piracy
The entertainment industry has been up in arms over the issue of digital piracy for years. Now, there’s a new ally in the fight: advertisers. Last week, three associations representing the advertising industry banded together in the United States to launch an initiative to combat advertising that – often inadvertently – ends up on piracy websites. Ads from major brands have appeared on sites that provide unauthorized downloads or streaming of music, movies and television shows, funnelling revenue to the sites’ operators. [Read more…]Six adverts that were so misleading they had to be banned
Here are some of the other ads to fall foul of the regulatory watchdog… [Read more…]Coca-Cola to Settle Lawsuit Over Glacéau Vitaminwater’s Marketing
Coca-Cola Co. has agreed to change the labeling and marketing of its Glacéau Vitaminwater drinks to settle a class-action lawsuit over deceptive labeling, the company said on Monday. Under a preliminary settlement, Coca-Cola has agreed to state the amount of calories per bottle on the front label as well as write in bold type, “See nutrition facts for more detail,” on the label. The company has also agreed to stop making some statements about the drinks and their effects on the body. The suit challenged the company’s marketing the drinks as a healthful alternative to soda by using vitamin in the name and prominently including on the label “nutrient-enhanced water beverage.” [Read more…]In store and online: Shoppers’ mobile use in retail spaces on the rise
Shopping has gone digital, even when people are hoofing it to brick-and-mortar stores. A new report is showing that mobile use is now the norm for a majority of Canadians while shopping in store. The holiday shopping survey is a part of a larger annual Mobile Personas report, conducted by the firms Tapped Mobile, App Promo and BrandSpark. The Holiday 2014 study polled nearly 1,000 Canadians, and found that more than 70 per cent of them spend time on their smartphones while shopping. For younger people, it was close to 80 per cent looking at their phones while in stores. [Read more…]Related Event
When: Monday, January 26, 2015 to Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Where: Twenty Toronto Street, Toronto
To Learn more visit: www.CanadianInstitute.com/AdLaw