False Advertising

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

WASHINGTON - Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana said they improved his strength and posture. Celebrity Kim Kardashian boasted they allowed her to ditch her personal trainer. But federal and state officials said the rocker-bottom Shape-ups and other toning shoes made by Skechers USA Inc. don't live up to the hype from the company and its high-profile endorsers. On Wednesday, the Manhattan Beach company agreed to pay $50 million to settle false-advertising allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of 44 states, including California, as well as the District of Columbia.

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.

They are the two bad boys of the American diet, linked to a variety of ailments including obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. But now sugar is taking high fructose corn syrup to court in a landmark battle over which is the greater evil. In a lawsuit that goes before a Los Angeles federal judge Wednesday, sugar producers accuse their corn industry rivals of false advertising in a campaign that casts the liquid sweetener as "nutritionally the same as table sugar" and claims "your body can't tell the difference.

Life Alert, whose catch phrase, "I've fallen and I can't get up!" was a staple of late-night television commercials, has settled a consumer protection lawsuit by the state for $1.35 million, Atty. Gen. Daniel Lungren announced Thursday during a stop in Costa Mesa. The state took issue with Life Alert's claim that its emergency response system was superior to other emergency systems and the company's high-pressure sales tactics on the elderly, the state attorney general's office said.

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it has warned the nation's six largest manufacturers of hearing aids to stop "misleading the public" about the effectiveness of their products or face regulatory action. In letters sent April 16, the agency told the companies that their advertising, promotion and labeling create "unrealistic expectations" about the performance of the devices. About 5.

The maker of Liverite dietary supplements is settling federal charges that it falsely claimed its products could work wonders, from preventing such serious liver diseases as cirrhosis and hepatitis to curing hangovers. Liverite Products Inc., based in Tustin, Calif.

A judge Tuesday rebuffed the makers of Advil, who had sought to quash advertising claims for Aleve, a fast-rising competitor. The judge complained that the mountains of conflicting claims he had to read about the two painkillers had left him with a "monumental headache." U.S. District Judge Nicholas H. Politan rejected the contention that Aleve's distributor, Procter & Gamble Co., deliberately intended to mislead consumers.

Today I decided I was going to take a quick trip to Australia. I picked up your paper and there must have been a dozen or more ads, all advertising round-trip fares to Sydney for $500 to $600. But when I started to make phone inquiries, I was unable to find one that could offer a ticket at those prices. You could not believe the excuses I got. One said it must have been a misprint; others said it expired the night before. One agent even hung up on me when I questioned him about his advertisement.

Supermarket giant Ralphs and its parent company were charged Tuesday with overcharging customers, false advertising and false labeling after an undercover operation by Los Angeles county officials. The multicount criminal case, filed by the Los Angeles city attorney's criminal branch, said Ralphs overcharged on prepackaged and weighed products such as fried chicken, bulk coffee, salads and fish. The chain was fined for similar violations in 2008 and 2009. Ralphs and parent company Kroger Co. could face fines and penalties of up to $256,000 each.

For the 13 years Ray Azoulay has owned the Venice antiques and curiosities business Obsolete, he has built a reputation for having an unconventional eye and a signature look, a neo-Victorian mix of early industrial artifacts, vintage laboratory equipment, steampunk style, taxidermy and other natural oddities. Now the trendsetter is taking on another role: pot stirrer. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court earlier this month, Obsolete accused Restoration Hardware of intentional misrepresentation, false advertising and unfair competition, among other legal claims, all stemming from what Azoulay said were the chain store's reproductions of vintage furnishings that he had collected and sold at Obsolete.

Taco Bell fans have spent the last week wondering what's really in their meals after a lawsuit was filed alleging that the popular fast-food chain's meat contains a whole lot of mystery. Some consumers cringed at the term "taco meat filling," which is how the lawsuit says Taco Bell should advertise its seasoned beef. It alleges that the product contains mostly substances other than beef. Taco Bell Corp., a Yum Brands Inc. subsidiary based in Irvine, has fired back, refuting the lawsuit's allegations and defending its menu ingredients.

The Los Angeles city attorney's office has charged the operators of two local talent service companies with violating the state's talent scam prevention law. The charges mark the latest crackdown on talent management and services companies by the office, which has been on a campaign to ferret out abusive practices by firms that purport to help actors find jobs. David Askaryar, 46, operator of Burbank-based Hollywood Stars Management Inc. and VIP Talent Web Inc., was charged with 16 criminal counts, including charging advance fees for actors, not posting a $50,000 bond with the state labor commissioner and failing to provide artists with written contracts with required disclosures.

Supermarket giant Ralphs and its parent company were charged Tuesday with overcharging customers, false advertising and false labeling after an undercover operation by Los Angeles county officials. The multicount criminal case, filed by the Los Angeles city attorney's criminal branch, said Ralphs overcharged on prepackaged and weighed products such as fried chicken, bulk coffee, salads and fish. The chain was fined for similar violations in 2008 and 2009. Ralphs and parent company Kroger Co. could face fines and penalties of up to $256,000 each.

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.

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.

After deliberating for four days, a Los Angeles jury has found an Encino carwash guilty of false advertising for failing to honor two $2.99 carwash coupons from a competitor. Encino Center Car Wash Inc., at 16300 Ventura Blvd. for 21 years, was found guilty Friday in Municipal Court of two counts of false advertising, a misdemeanor, ordered to pay $3,105 and placed on three years' probation.

A Ventura County Superior Court judge has ordered a candidate for county clerk to pay a $2,500 fine for falsely and deceptively advertising his business services, putting an end to a four-year legal dispute. Daniel J. Schmidt, a former Simi Valley resident, was charged in 1991 with wrongfully charging business owners for unnecessary services associated with refiling their business licenses. The legal complaint was made by the district attorney's office on behalf of the county clerk.

Fast-money lender CashCall Inc.-- known for TV ads featuring faded child star Gary Coleman talking about his financial problems -- agreed Monday to pay $1 million to settle state prosecutors' allegations that the company ran deceptive ads and used "loan shark tactics" to collect debt from customers. CashCall specializes in making loans in as little as one day with only a signature needed to get cash. But the Anaheim company charges most customers extremely high interest rates while advertising that its rates are low, according to a civil complaint filed by the California attorney general's office.

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.