POM Thumbs Nose at FTC, Celebrates Judge's Ruling

A judge this week criticized juice maker POM for making deceptive claims about the health benefits of its pomegranate juice. But you wouldn't know it from POM's reaction: It took out full-page ads celebrating certain parts of the ruling, asserting that the judge agreed that POM products "provide significant health benefits." As the Washington Post sees it, the company "poked a big stick in the eye of the Federal Trade Commission" and is testing the limits of the FTC's power.

“What’s going on with POM is wild,” says an advertising lawyer. Unlike other big advertisers that have gotten into fights with the FTC, POM is not quietly acquiescing. And it's making a "public spectacle" of the agency in the interim, writes Dina ElBoghdady. The company plans to appeal the decision that some of its ads were misleading, and the outcome could set a precedent in legal circles of exactly how far the FTC can go in requiring advertisers to back up their claims. (More POM Wonderful stories.)