Advertising

Housing Firms Used Discriminatory Facebook Ad Tool to Exclude Older Tenants: Lawsuit

Lawyers say the housing companies used Facebook’s advertising algorithm to systematically weed out older prospective tenants. In their filings Wednesday, lawyers include examples of allegedly discriminatory Facebook ads alongside screenshots of a feature that shows Facebook users why they are seeing certain ads on the social network. HuffPost Lawyers allege housing ads like this, which were …


The First Amendment (Literally) Banned in DC

Can the government ban the text of the First Amendment itself on municipal transit ads because free speech is too “political” for public display? If this sounds like some ridiculous brain teaser, it should. But unfortunately it’s not.



A New Health Lawsuit Compares Big Soda to the Tobacco Industry

The term “Big Soda” gets thrown around a lot to describe how soda companies have a tendency to act like the big, bad oil and tobacco companies who wield immense lobbying power and advertising budgets to match. It might sound like an exaggeration to compare the big three soda companies (The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group) to corporations like Philip Morris, but a …



MyPillow Maker to Pay $1M in False Advertising Settlement

A pillow manufacturer that claimed its products could help people with fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a false advertising lawsuit filed by Alameda County and eight other California counties. Claims in advertising and testimonials by the …


Intelius Hit With Class Action Alleging Their Personal Info Reports Violate Illinois Publicity Rights Law

The operators of Intelius, a website offering and selling personal information reports, faces a class action complaint alleging Intelius’ products violates Illinois’ law governing who can control that personal information. Lake Forest resident Michael R. Siegel filed his complaint in Cook County Circuit Court Oct. 20, targeting Inome Inc.,of Bellevue, Wash., operator of the Intelius.com …


Liberty Mutual to Pay $925K in Accident Forgiveness Ad Lawsuit

Liberty Mutual auto insurance carrier has settled a consumer protection lawsuit that alleged its television commercials advertising an accident-forgiveness program were misleading to Californians, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday. The $925,000 settlement, approved Wednesday, will be divided among district attorney’s offices in San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles …


Lessons for LearningRx on Comeback From Federal Lawsuit

LearningRx, a Colorado Springs company that operates a franchised network of 80 tutoring centers in 25 states, is just beginning to recover after a 1½-year battle with the Federal Trade Commission over whether it could back up its advertising claims with scientific studies and other research. The company settled in May a lawsuit filed in federal court last year by the agency that alleged it …