The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that Reebok has agreed to resolve an investigation that the company deceptively advertised “toning shoes.”

“This is a brave new frontier for consumer products, especially those in the higher-end, that claim to make one healthy, beautiful or live longer,” says White & Case Commercial Litigation Partner Jaime Bianchi, who represents consumer product companies in false advertising claims. “The FTC has been very active in investigating products that claim they provide health benefits to consumers.”

“They are making a big push to make sure that advertising, especially when it deals with claims of a product’s health-related benefits, is backed by some scientific evidence to support it,” says Bianchi. “The current FTC perceives that the prior Commission was not very protective of consumers, so they have a whole different mantra in place, which is why we are seeing more active policing by the FTC.”

“If a company is going to claim that a product has secondary effects that are related to the use of the product other than the product itself, like health related, they need to make sure they have adequate support for the claims,” he says.

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