Forbes blogger Jeff Bercovici gives Newsweek both barrels in a piece with the headline "Did Sarah Palin Use Newsweek for Product Placement?"

The accusation is that Palin not only pulled one over on Newsweek by sporting a hoodie with an "Edge Fitness" logo on the magazine's current cover story, but that she also may have broken Federal Trade Commission guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

Turns out she might be OK, but two other conservatives may be in trouble.Continue reading...

On the day that the Obama administration had to ruefully acknowledge that the unemployment rate is rising again – to 9.2% in June – the US Association of National Advertisers tried a clever tactic that attempted to leverage renewed fears about joblessness to advance what probably ranks as the ANA’s No. 1 public-policy concern these days.

The ANA produced a study purporting to show that a cross-agency federal proposal to curtail marketing of certain products to kids could translate to the loss of at least 74,000 American jobs in the retailing, marketing and manufacturing of foods and beverages that the government believes contribute to childhood obesity.Continue reading...

Nivea is not only getting older — the European skincare (it prefers "body care") brand turns 100 this year — but a little wiser. 

The US Federal Trade Commission this week ruled that Nivea must pull its ads for its My Silhouette! cream, which claims using the cream leads to weight loss via the active ingredient: "Bio-slim Complex."

The advertising watchdog, which has been on the warpath against brands making diet claims in their marketing, also ordered Nivea's parent company, Beiersdorf, to pay a stiff $900,000 fine.Continue reading...

>The Federal Trade Commission is revising its “Dot Com Disclosures:  Information About Online Advertising” document that was released in 2000.

Those guidelines state that companies must adhere to the same consumer protection laws online that they do in print and TV, including notification to users about product risks and privacy policies advertised online, with specifics about how those disclosures appear on a website or online ad, and in accessible language.

Since publication over a decade ago, the online landscape has undergone a sea change to include mobile marketing, apps, widespread use of “pop-up blockers,” and the rise of social networking.Continue reading...

POM Wonderful executives may be enjoying all the attention spawned by buying the title sponsorship of Morgan Spurlock's product-placement documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. But there’s another show going on, in Washington, D.C., that actually may have more to say about the long-term fate of the brand.

And this one could be called The Obama Administration Presents: Watch What You Say. After first clamping down on the brand's ad claims last year, the Federal Trade Commission is still squeezing the pomegranate juice giant as part of the agency’s campaign to get food and beverage companies to throttle health-benefit claims in their marketing and advertising.Continue reading...

Throughout his new documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, director Morgan Spurlock contemplates the influence on advertising, product placement and what it means to "sell out," or he interchangeably calls it, "buy in."

When we first heard that POM Wonderful was the marquee brand attached to the project, we wondered if Spurlock was getting used by a brand that had already participated in nearly the exact same stunt with TIME magazine. Now that the movie is out, and POM's side of its cross-promotional bargain with Spurlock is gearing up, it's clear we were right.

POM is using Spurlock to carry its (flavored) water, helping the beverage-maker skirt any charges from the FDA and FCC about making unfounded claims about the supposed health benefits of its juice. And while Spurlock gleefully cops to "selling out" to his brand partners in order to make a point (and some cash) for his movie, he doesn't seem to understand how much he's compromising with the title sponsor of his film.Continue reading...

Walmart's first Express mini-store is coming to Arkansas.

Morgan Stanley is preparing layoffs.

NPR Ombudsman will be interviewed by CNN's Piers Morgan tonight, as PBS confirms it was targeted by the same sting operation.

ANA responds to FTC on "do not track" issue.

BBC reports that its news crew in Libya was detained and beaten by Gaddafi forces.

Carlos Slim tops Forbes' 2011 list of world's richest; Bill Gates is #2.

Foursquare rolls out biggest product launch in its history, including deals-based "specials" for advertisers.Continue reading...

AARP sues over reverse mortgages. 

Adidas opens women's concept store in Seoul.

Asahi hits roadblock in Australia push.

BMW to expand lineups of EVs and hybrids.

Daimler and Rolls-Royce launch bid for Tognum.

Dynegy faces Chapter 11.Continue reading...