Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved final consent orders settling charges that Nissan North America, Inc. and advertising agency TBWA Worldwide, Inc. deceptively advertised a Nissan Frontier truck pushing a dune buggy up a steep hill, something the truck actually cannot do.
First announced in January 2014, the settlements prohibit Nissan and TBWA Worldwide, which designed the 30-second television ad for the mid-sized truck, from misrepresenting 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.
The Commission vote to approve the final order in this case was 4-0-1 with Commissioner McSweeny not participating. (FTC File No. 122 3010; the staff contact is Matthew D. Gold or Evan Rose, FTC Western Region, San Francisco, 415-848-5100.)
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