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Advertising Law Updates

| 1 minute read

FTC Says it Wants to Hear More About Kids, But Not About Cars

The Federal Trade Commission just made two announcements related to opportunities to submit comments related to kids and cars.  

Kids

In May, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it planned to hold a virtual event on October 19th in order to examine "how best to protect children from a growing array of manipulative marketing practices that make it difficult or impossible for children to distinguish ads from entertainment in digital media."  The FTC also invited public comments about these issues, which were due by July 18th.  

The FTC just announced that it is seeking additional public comments on these issues, which will be due by November 18th.  Noting that "Marketers increasingly reach children via digital media, including by embedding advertising in video sharing platforms, social media platforms through influencer and celebrity posts, games, virtual worlds, and other digital environments," the FTC said that it is adding an additional public comment period to accommodate those who wish to provide input on the topics discussed at the event.  

Cars

In June, the FTC announced that it was seeking public comment on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in connection with its proposal to implement a new "Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule."  In announcing the rule, the FTC said that it is proposing the rule in order to "ban junk fees and bait-and-switch advertising tactics that can plague consumers throughout the car-buying experience."  The deadline to submit comments is September 12th. 

Apparently, the FTC received a number of requests asking to extend the comment period.  In a decision, the FTC denied the request, saying the existing comment period "affords the public a meaningful opportunity to provide the Commission regarding its rulemaking proposal."  So, while the FTC isn't extending the comments period, there's still time to get comments in. 

"Marketers increasingly reach children via digital media, including by embedding advertising in video sharing platforms, social media platforms through influencer and celebrity posts, games, virtual worlds, and other digital environments"

Tags

children, cars, ftc