The Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has concluded that claims made by Perdue Farms in a national broadcast advertising campaign were misleading. NAD is a nonregulatory body that provides a mediation process for competitors to challenge unfair or misleading advertising. This challenge, brought by Tyson Foods, alleged that a Perdue advertisement contained claims that its chickens are “happy” and implied that all Perdue chickens are raised organically.
NAD ruled that these claims were misleading to consumers, who may have reasonably believed that Perdue had changed the way it raises all of its chickens or that all Perdue chicken is organic. In fact, only one of Perdue’s brands meets organic standards—its Harvestland Organic line. NAD recommended that Perdue discontinue or modify the commercials to make clear that the organic claim clearly applies only to Harvestland Organic products, not all Perdue products. Perdue has vowed to appeal the decision to the National Advertising Review Board.