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The Federal Trade Commision and False Advertising: 1969 to 1985
Bayer, Leslie Russo
Bayer, Leslie Russo
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Abstract
The Federal Trade Commission, in the late 1960's, was viewed by critics as weak and ineffectual. When the consumer movement became popular in the late 1960's and early 1970's it brought sweeping changes at the FTC. Spurred by popular support, consumer movement leaders such as Ralph Nader put pressure on the government to change laws and policies to expand the reach of the agency.
The result was a noticeable increase in the number of cases against advertisers in the years that followed. Many new laws were passed and standards for unfairness and deception were liberalized. The FTC became a champion for consumer protection.
As attention on the consumer movement waned, the case load at the FTC began to diminish. Then the 1980's brought a new administration with policies for deregulation and cut backs in government spending. The logical conclusion was that the FTC was again becoming ineffectual.
However, an examination of charges brought and remedies used in a sample of false advertising cases from 1969 to 1984 indicates the opposite. The FTC got carried away during the early '70's and charged advertisers with offenses that not always represented any clear harm to consumers. The late '70s and '80s saw proportionately more false advertising cases with real potential harm to consumers than did the span when the FTC was more visible.
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Date
1986-12-31
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University of Kansas
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bayer_1986_1077963.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.21 MB