PART V. SPECIAL PROCEDURE IN CERTAIN TYPES OF ADVERTISING CASES

ADVERTISERS PAY BILLION DOLLARS YEARLY FOR SPACE

The latest reliable reports (1933) show there are 20,143 periodicals published in the United States and Territories.

Altogether, there are 1,389,000,000 copies of newspapers and magazines published in the United States every month-more than 16 billion copies each year.

Advertisers are paying these publications approximately $1,000,000,000 each year for advertising space.

With buyer and seller often widely separated, the old rule of "let the buyer beware" is no longer feasible, as it was when trade was limited to small communities and buyers could see what they were getting. The rule, emphasized by President Roosevelt, of "let the seller beware", is the practical rule for modern commerce.

The only practical protection for the public against deception and fraud by means of false and misleading advertising is to prevent it. Individual recovery of damages through the courts for fraud in small transactions is expensive and usually difficult.

The Federal courts have repeatedly held that the publication of false and misleading representations in advertisements and advertising literature is an "unfair method of competition" within the meaning of the Federal Trade Commission Act.

The Commission's efforts have been effective, as a comparison of the advertising pages of a few years ago with those of today will show; there is a marked improvement in the quality of advertisements. The cooperation by publishers generally has been the big factor in bringing this about.

There always are, however, some in every class who will not observe fair-trade practices, if it pays to ignore them. It is this class of advertisers and publishers that must be restrained by the hand of the law, in order to give their ethical competitors the freedom from unfair competition intended by the act.

The Commission considers all cases of false and misleading advertising brought to its attention by competitors, by the purchasing public, by Government departments and agencies, and by its own periodic check-up on current advertising literature.

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Many published advertisements, while not obviously false on their face, contact the vendor with a prospective purchaser to whom false and misleading follow-up literature is sent, in the form of booklets, circulars, and form letters. By means of a questionnaire system developed through experience, the Commission has uncovered and curbed a large amount of this subtle form of deceptive advertising. It has been estimated that $350,000,000 is paid each year for drugs, medicines, and cosmetics alone. It is well known that the people are swindled to the extent of many millions annually through false and misleading advertising.

ALLEGED REMEDIES FOR DISEASES INVESTIGATED

For illustration, investigations made by the Commission disclose the following data concerning preparations advertised as remedies or cures for diseases:

Gallstones.-Gallstones and bile troubles afford a fertile field for the mail-order medicine man. The public is told in all the words, forms, and phrases afforded by the best dictionaries that cholagogues and laxatives will stimulate the liver to produce more and thinner bile and that such bile will dissolve and eliminate gallstones. Reliable medical authorities uniformly advise that no known drugs will dissolve gallstones once formed; and the theory that bile in any quantity will dissolve such stones is but sales talk without foundation in fact. If the stones have become too large to pass, only an operation can remove them. To represent these compounds as proper or effective treatments for gallstones is dangerously misleading. Their use may cause delay of a necessary operation until the gall bladder bursts, or a diseased gall bladder discharges poison into the system with fatal results.

Diabetes. Several medical preparations are advertised as remedies for diabetes. The medical profession uniformly reports that nothing has yet been found, taken orally, that will either stimulate the pancreas or do its work. Insulin by injection, diet, and rest are the only effective treatments known to the profession.

Skin troubles.-Many things are advertised and offered, from creams and lotions to acids and skin peels, to overcome pimples, freckles, scars, tan, wrinkles, and all undesired skin blemishes. Some of these combinations are intended to cleanse, some to soften, and some to tint the skin, some are astringents, and some just lubricants to aid massage. Few of these preparations will do what is claimed for them, but notwithstanding this there are tons of worthless skin applications sold for millions of dollars every year.

Fits, epilepsy, and convulsions.-Several vendors of remedies for fits, epilepsy, and convulsions advertise extensively and apparently do a large business. One vendor was found using 103 form letters to induce the unfortunate to buy; and when he had exhausted his re

sources in efforts to sell, he sold the names to others for a mailing list. Most of the medical compounds offered for this purpose are mere sedatives to quiet the nerves for the time being. All claims that such remedies will permanently overcome a tendency to fits and epileptic 'attacks are, according to dependable medical authority, without foundation.

ADVERTISEMENT OF alleged FLESH REDUCERS

There has been a great demand for fat reducers. Probably more advertising is done to sell teas, salts, "crèmes", pills, tablets, powders, liquids, belts, girdles, paddles, rollers, and what-not for the purpose of reducing fat, than to sell any other treatment for human ills or defects.

According to the medical profession, there is, aside from powerful and dangerous drugs, no competent method known for reducing fat except limited and proper diet combined with proper exercise.

Flesh foods, tissue builders, and bust developers.-Creams and compounds for external application are advertised to round out and firm up flabby parts, fill up shrunken places, and make "skinny" folks plump, pleasing, and pretty. Medical science advises there is nothing that may be applied externally that will feed flesh and build tissue. Oils and creams are mere lubricants to facilitate recommended massage. Some of these "body-building creams" are identical in composition with some "fat-reducing creams."

Hair tonics, hair growers, hair dyes.—Many tonics are advertised and sold under representations that they will remove dandruff and the cause thereof, stimulate the scalp, invigorate the hair roots, and grow a new crop of hair on bald pates.

Hair dyes are the fortune hunter's paradise. There are legions of them. Some are harmless and some dangerous. Cuts in the scalp may result in infection and poison the whole system. Dyes containing poisonous substances are dangerous.

Dyes may impart some selected color, as paint upon a house, or produce a color that may approximate the darker shade of former years. The use of any dye to darken the hair requires constant application and care necessary to keep the growing hair painted, or a white cushion will span the space between the painted hair and the scalp; claims of permanent results are unfounded.

Gas savers and all sorts of gadgets to reduce travel cost, extend the life of motor vehicles, make speeding safe and driving automatic, are offered for sale under false claims.

Jewelry, watches, beads, and imitation gems of all kinds flood the markets under brands and representations designed to deceive and defraud the public. Synthetic stones, glass and crystals are sold as real diamonds, rubies, and other gems. Simulated pearls are advertised as genuine. Stamped rings and watch cases are advertised as

being engraved. Watches with but one jewel are falsely advertised as jeweled watches.

Famous physicians and scientists.-Numerous medical compounds are advertised as "great scientific discoveries" at the end of long years of research, when in fact they are common formulas used by manufacturing pharmacists or compounded by drug clerks with a mania for mixing medicine and trying it out on some of the "one hundred million guinea pigs." Many of these vendors appear to have little knowledge of medicine or therapy.

FALSE ADVERTISING IS DESTRUCTIVE AND EXPENSIVE

False advertising destroys confidence of the buying public and makes the cost of advertising excessive for truthful merchants. Elimination of false and misleading representations materially reduces the cost of advertising in proportion to sales. Honest merchants benefit and the public is protected.

The cooperative attitude of the press and various business associations interested in advertising is helpful to the Commission in its efforts to protect the consumer. Associations of national advertisers and advertising agents have adopted resolutions intended to curb and eliminate false and misleading advertising among their members. This cooperation is fully appreciated by the Federal Trade Commission.

Effective cooperation has obtained throughout the year with the Food and Drug Administration of the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Standards of the Department of Commerce, and the Bureau of the Public Health Service of the Treasury Department.

Cases involving what appear to be fraudulent schemes in violation of the postal laws are referred to the Post Office Department. Action on such cases as are found to be under investigation by that Department is suspended pending the outcome of those proceedings.

Valuable scientific opinions have been rendered by the Food and Drug Administration, Bureau of the Public Health Service, and the Bureau of Standards; also many analyses and comments regarding the therapeutic properties of various preparations have been furnished by the Food and Drug Administration. In a number of cases action against advertisers of medical preparations has been undertaken at the request of the Department of Agriculture.

Comparison of the advertising columns of current magazines with the same magazines a few years ago shows a marked improvement in the class and text of current advertising. This is evidence of effective work accomplished; but further examination of current advertising by national advertisers, drug and cosmetic vendors and other mail-order merchants, over the radio, in daily papers and highclass magazines, as well as periodicals that still print anything for a price, discloses the great need for much more work, to protect the buying public and honest competitors.