Legal News

After Complaint, Wal-Mart Rolls Back An Ad Campaign

By Chris Herring

Ever wonder if those shopping ads you see on TV or in the paper — the ones that claim you can save hundreds a month by buying from their stores — are actually telling the truth? (Of course you have.)

Well, one Texas supermarket chain did — and acted on it. H-E-B, Texas’ second-largest grocery retailer behind Wal-Mart, challenged Wal-Mart’s claim that shoppers could save $700 a year by shopping there.

H-E-B didn’t file suit, but took its claim to the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division, which plays a watchdog role in the advertising industry. The group has no mandate power, but advises corporations on advertisements that seem to toe the legal line.

Earlier this week, the NAD suggested that suggested that Wal-Mart pull its ad. Click here to read the group’s decision.

Wal-Mart agreed to pull the ad, but said its commercial’s claim was substantiated. “Although we are not currently running this particular spot, we firmly believe that this claim is well-supported by the Global Insight study,” the statement said. The Global Insight study was the one from which Wal-Mart initially pulled its $700 figure.

Last year, H-E-B asked the NAD to study a pair of Wal-Mart spots — one on the $700 a month claim and another that argued the retailer boasted “unbeatable prices.” The NAD, however, said Wal-Mart’s “unbeatable price” mantra is OK.

According to the Dallas Morning-News, the NAD has been asked to investigate significantly more cases since the recession began, a sign that seems to suggest that companies are seeking ways to avoid costly litigation during the economic downturn. It handled 214 cases in 2008, a 22 percent jump from 2007. The 2009 rate is soaring past last year’s, according to a NAD spokeswoman.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 25, 2009 (boomark / email).