False Advertising

The California Supreme Court revived a major class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry Monday, ruling that smokers could hold it accountable for alleged deceptive advertising. After years of consumer cases meeting their demise in lower courts, the state high court's 4-3 decision helped resuscitate a key consumer law that voters sharply limited in 2004 in the wake of lawsuit scandals. Justice Carlos R.

Dannon Co. settled a false-advertising lawsuit Friday, agreeing to set up a $35-million fund to reimburse consumers who bought its Activia and DanActive yogurts. The class-action lawsuit, filed in January 2008, alleged that Dannon lied when marketing its Activia and DanActive yogurts by trumpeting health benefits that didn't exist. The White Plains, N.Y.-based yogurt maker denied the claims and admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The decision to settle was based on Dannon's desire "to avoid the distraction and expense of litigation," spokesman Michael Neuwirth said.

We instinctively grant latitude to advertisers, whether they're peddling politicians, dog food or miracle paring knives. But we do expect that an ad will not flat-out lie. Sadly, our expectations often fall short when ambitious politicians are pitching themselves. Neither major party has a lock on truthfulness. I've written about false advertising by Republicans and Democrats alike for years. Now, in the very first series of radio ads in the 2010 gubernatorial race, comes blatant baloney from billionaire political novice Meg Whitman, the former chief executive of EBay who is running for the Republican nomination.

Trish Wiener believes Dannon misled her, and she wants to milk it for all it's worth. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, she accuses the yogurt maker of a "massive and comprehensive" false advertising campaign for its Activia, Activia Light and DanActive products. Dannon promotes them as clinically proven to help regulate digestion and boost immunity because they contain bacteria that Wiener's suit says aren't so special.

The Supreme Court cleared the way for a new era of tobacco litigation Monday, ruling that cigarette makers could be sued for allegedly deceiving smokers about the dangers of highly popular "light" cigarettes. The decision allows class-action lawsuits to proceed in several states and opens the door to suits in other states. Ten years ago, the tobacco industry agreed to a $206-billion settlement with 46 states to end lawsuits over the healthcare costs of smoking.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday fined the marketers of four weight-loss pills $25 million for making false advertising claims including rapid weight loss and cancer prevention. FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras said that the products would remain on store shelves, but that the companies would have to stop making the false claims. "What we challenge is the marketing of the claims," she said.

About half of the most aggressively marketed children's food with pictures or names of fruit on the packaging contains no fruit at all, according to a report to be released today at the 2007 California Childhood Obesity Conference in Anaheim. Some of the least fruity products were cereal and yogurt, said lead author Leslie Mikkelsen, a dietitian for Prevention Institute, an Oakland-based nonprofit that promotes community-based health and safety programs.

The Federal Trade Commission filed deceptive practices and contempt charges against individuals and firms running a "mystery shopping" operation. In "Mystery Shop Link" advertisements, consumers were told that if they paid $99.95 for training and certification, they could access ample job postings through the company and earn a steady income.

Everything including the kitchen sink was stripped from a rental home in Tacoma after an Internet classified ad invited people to take whatever they wanted for free. The landlord says the ad, posted last weekend on the Craigslist website, was fake. Laurie Raye said she had cleaned out the rental after evicting a tenant. After the ad appeared, the property was stripped of the sink, light fixtures and even the front door.

A brokerage industry regulator said Tuesday that it had fined two Fidelity Investments broker-dealer units a total of $400,000 for allegedly misleading U.S. military personnel in sales literature promoting two mutual funds. The NASD said the alleged violations took place from January 2003 to January 2006 and concerned Fidelity's Destiny I and II funds.