Pom Wonderful Strikes Back with FTC-Based Campaign

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By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

When covering the advertising industry, we are constantly scanning the newslines and hoping that brands stick to representing themselves the best way they think they can, regardless of what regulators or their competitors try to make others believe.

Imagine our excitement when we saw that Pom Wonderful is launching a campaign that highlights all the health benefit claims that the FTC said that Pom Wonderful can say. In a press release, Pom Wonderful also acknowledges the "simplification" of the ruling explanation, and that out of its 600 ads, the judge ruled that only 2% were deemed as misleading.

Pom Wonderful even launched http://www.pomtruth.com/ftc, a website centered around the filing and a place where consumers can read the ruling and see about 16 ads that the brand is currently running.

This campaign is brilliant on several levels. First, it helps turn consumers into advocates for the brand. No one likes a bully, especially if that bully is also in government. To see that the ruling explanation was misleading does in fact cast a doubt shadow over the ruling's goal. Second, it gives Pom Wonderful an opportunity to get its brand out to a wider audience. It's topical, so now Pom is trying to cash in on the opportunity. Nothing wrong with that. And third, because most of the copy for these new string of ads comes out of the judge's mouth, the brand doesn't have to submit their new ads to the FTC or any regulatory committee. The judge literally did the work for them.

Here are a couple of the ads:

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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