Advertising and Marketing
Barnes & Thornburg’s advertising and marketing team knows that businesses must carefully balance advertising campaigns designed to excite and attract consumers with navigating advertising laws and regulations in a way that protects their brands, minimizes legal risk, and maintains consumer trust. We provide comprehensive legal counsel across advertising compliance, enforcement, and dispute resolution so businesses can market their products and services with confidence.
Building legally sound advertising strategies
We work with businesses to develop advertising and promotional campaigns that align with federal, state, and international regulations while mitigating legal exposure. Our team provides practical guidance on:
- Claim substantiation
- Comparative and competitor claims
- Regulatory compliance
- Digital and social media marketing, including influencer marketing
- Retail and promotional marketing
- Contest, sweepstakes, promotions, and loyalty programs
- Telemarketing, email, and text message advertising
- Privacy and data protection
Managing disputes and regulatory challenges
Even well-planned advertising campaigns can face legal challenges. We represent clients in complex disputes, competitor challenges, and regulatory investigations, including:
- False advertising litigation – Defending businesses in high-stakes false advertising and commercial disparagement cases in federal and state courts, including consumer class actions.
- Regulatory investigations and defense – Responding to FTC and state attorneys general inquiries, subpoenas, and cease-and-desist demands and developing compliance strategies to mitigate enforcement risks.
- NAD challenges – Representing clients in advertising claim disputes before the National Advertising Division (NAD), the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), and other self-regulatory bodies.