Background: The advertising claims at issue were challenged before the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus by S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., manufacturer of Ziploc brand products.
Following its review of the evidence, NAD recommended that Housewares America modify certain advertising claims. Housewares America appealed NAD’s decision to the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).
Decision: The NARB panel determined that the studies provided by Housewares America did not reasonably establish that any positive effect achieved by using GreenBags resulted from the absorption of ethylene gas by the natural mineral embedded in the bags, and that there was, in fact, scientific evidence in the record that indicated any such positive effect resulted from other factors.
The panel recommended that Housewares America discontinue its claim that GreenBags extends the shelf life of produce by absorbing and removing ethylene gas. The panel also recommended that Housewares America discontinue superior product performance claims over original store packaging and other forms of storage such as sealable plastic bags and storage containers. Finally, the panel recommended that Housewares America discontinue the use in advertising/packaging of comparative photographs that do not fairly and accurately reflect the difference in product quality as documented in testing.
The advertiser agreed to follow NARB's recommendation.
Board Members for Panel #155
Dr. Jan LeBlanc Wicks (chair)
Professor & Graduate Coordinator
University of Arkansas
Eric Andrews
Vice President, WW Demand Generation
IBM Corporate Marketing
Michael Scherb
Director, Corporate Advertising and Branding
PSE&G
Patti Wells
Finance Manager
General Mills, Inc.
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- Letter from the Chair (1)
- NARB Member News (1)
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