Affirmative Disclosure: Long-term Monitoring of Residual Effects

Abstract

In 1973, the Federal Trade Commission charged the manufacturer of Hawaiian Punch fruit drink with deceptive advertising of the proportion of natural fruit juice in the product. A consent order that specified the use of corrective advertising (affirmative disclosure) to correct suspected residual effects was agreed to. The order required that a consumer survey be conducted to demonstrate whether the residual effects had dissipated to an acceptable level. This study presents the results of 11 cross-sectional surveys taken over a nine-year period following the FTC order. The results indicate that residual effects have systematically declined over the nine-year period and are now at a level which meets one of the FTC's three criteria for termination of the affirmative disclosure advertising message.