CARU's concern: The required disclosures -- including no purchase necessary, void where prohibited, some restrictions apply -- came in such rapid-fire succession that the likelihood of winning ("many will enter, one will win") at the end was lost in the clutter.
Advertiser's position: Radio Disney disagreed with CARU's findings.
Outcome: The ad had completed its run, but Radio Disney agreed to take CARU's concerns into consideration for future ads .
Television commercial at issue: A 2003 Eggo Waffles ad featuring a boy bullying a frog puppet to stop the puppet from eating his waffle.
CARU's concern: The boy's activities -- pushing the frog under the table, tying him up, shoving his legs over his head -- were inappropriate for children to see.
Advertiser's position: Kellogg Co., maker of Eggo, said it believed children would recognize the ad's humor and understand the antics were just good-natured jostling over a waffle.
Outcome: To work with CARU, Kellogg discontinued the ad.
Television commercial at issue: A 2003 promotion showing a bottle of Sunny D Citrus Punch breaking out of a concrete block. Liquid, with large pieces of fruit, subsequently bursts from the bottle, as a voice says, "It's the power of the sun."
CARU's concern: Children would think drinking Sunny D would give them great strength and that the product contained large amounts of fruit when it contained only 5 percent juice.
Advertiser's position: Procter & Gamble Co., maker of Sunny D, disagreed with CARU's interpretation.
Outcome: P&G changed its ad to "Taste the power of the sun" and added a line noting it was "5 percent juice."
-- Caroline E. Mayer
