Grocery stores nowadays have a variety of products which were monitored by the authorities now and then. And recently, grocery giant Walmart was accused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company has violated a law in concern some of their locally made products advertised online that the Commission alleged to contain components.
Advertising is one of the critical components to make a company's product and services sell or customers avail them. The power of advertising has helped many companies and conglomerates in the success stories and entrance in the market. However, there should be ethical standards a company needs to practice and sell in the market freely.
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Made in USA products
In a Truth in Advertising report, Walmart has more than 40 pages of 'made in the USA' products listings. However, they further that these products contain imported parts that do not meet the FTC's standard. Eat This Not That takes note of what Truth in Advertising says about the millions of products for sale on the company's online store, which they believe two-thirds of it are claiming that they are products made in America.
Truth in Advertising notes in Yahoo! Life that Walmart's history of deceptive "Made in the USA" labels spans on their online website for about five years. They add that it is worsened by the consumers' current need to shop online amid pandemic.
Other Mislabelled Products
Truth in Advertising explains that according to the law, only products that are all or virtually all made in the United States can be marked as "made in the USA." In a staff closing letter, the terms manufactured and built shall determine that the product is locally made and has no foreign content. In an article created by the advertising group, they note some of the products that Walmart does not identify the country and the countries of origin of the imported or globally sourced components are the carpet cleaners appearing on their website when a customer enters made in the USA as a keyword.
Eat This Not That notes that the advertising group found some of the food products which are not entirely produced locally happen to be Boost Originally Ready To Drink Rich Chocolate, Boost High Protein Ready to Drink Very Vanilla, and other foods for dogs and cats.
Pehal News states that it is not the first time the advertising group has complained against Walmart with the FTC. They further sent a letter to the federal company back in 2015 alleging that the grocery giant's website is full of deceptive and false representation, encouraging the federal company to take appropriate enforcement action. The advertising group exclaims that their only aim is to provide and show the consumers accurate information.
Mislabelled USA products like in Walmart can be quite dangerous because it poses dangers to citizens and may convince people that these products are purely made in the USA even though they are not. Responsible advertising is one company's need to adhere to for them to compete with other companies ethically.
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