FTC to Hold Media Phone Briefing on Proposed Changes to the Agencys Green Marketing Guides

The Federal Trade Commission will announce proposed new revisions to its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, at 10 a.m. on the FTC’s website, followed by a phone-in media briefing at 11 a.m. with Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioner Julie Brill, who will discuss the Guides and answer reporter questions. The Green Guides help marketers avoid making claims that are “unfair or deceptive” by outlining general principles that apply to all environmental marketing claims and providing specific guidance about how consumers are likely to interpret particular claims, how marketers can substantiate and qualify them to avoid deceiving consumers. The Guides were last updated in 1998.