False Advertising

False advertising (Lanham Act) claims can arise as economic factors squeeze advertising budgets and advertising content becomes more aggressive. Companies scrupulously monitor their competitors’ ads for falsehoods or exaggerated claims, while consumers are quick to target misleading ads with class action lawsuits. 

With the rise of online advertising, analysis of false advertising claims has become more complex. Damages analyses require knowledge of market elasticity, demand modeling and assessment, and consumer purchasing behavior in order to quantify the effect of the claims at issue on sales or the adequate restitution in consumer class actions. We often partner with marketing science experts to develop surveys that capture the impact of false or deceptive ads on consumer perceptions and behavior and then compare the behavior of those exposed to the content in question with the behavior of an impartial control group.