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Infomercials, Deceptive Advertising And The Federal Trade Commission, W.H. Ramsay Lewis

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Recently, there has been growing concern among consumers, broadcasters and the Federal Trade Commission that infomercials may be a form of deceptive advertising. This note applies Federal Trade Commission guidelines to the infomercial format and concludes that infomercials are precariously close to violating commonly held standards for deceptive advertising. This note advocates that the Federal Trade Commission promulgate new standards requiring infomercials to identify themselves to consumers at all times as paid advertisements, so as to reduce the risk of consumers being unfairly fooled by advertisers.