ERSP Summit 2012

ERSP held its second annual Summit on October 3, 2012 at the Ritz-Carleton New York, Battery Park.

The half-day event was keynoted by Robert Anguizola, Assistant Director, Division of Marketing Practices at the Federal Trade Commission. He discussed the latest FTC cases, and addressed hot-button regulatory issues, including wealth-creation products, the Do-Not-Call registry, and "robo" calls. 

Robert Anguizola

The first panel highlighted various developments in telemarketing and lead generation advertising, as well as a lively discussion about ERSP's new self-regulatory endeavor. The panel was moderated by Leanne Gabinelli, Staff Attorney at ERSP and included Jonathan Pompan, Of Counsel at Venable LLP, George Brunt, Chief Legal Officer of Prosper, Inc., and Greg Christiansen, General Counsel at National Marketing and Learning.

Jonathan Pompan, George Brunt, and Greg Christiansen

At the second panel, industry professionals chronicled the process of bringing a product through the different stages of a successful direct response advertising campaign, from the inception of an idea through execution. The panel featured Jeff Tuller, Co Founder and President of Savvier, Edward Glynn, Jr., Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, and Vic Golio, Executive V.P. of Chief Media. The panel was moderated by ERSP Director Peter Marinello

Jeff Tuller

ERSP Refers Advertising for ‘Review Riches’ to FTC After Marketer Fails to Respond to ERSP Inquiry

The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program will refer direct response advertising for Review Riches Affiliate Marketing Program to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the marketer, Premium Web Marketing, Inc., failed to respond to the ERSP inquiry.

ERSP is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The marketer’s advertising came to ERSP’s attention pursuant to its ongoing monitoring program.

Claims at issue in the initial inquiry included:

• “How To Make $1,000, $5,00…Or Even Over $20,000 Per Month Online Without Busting Your Head Learning the New ‘Secrets’ From The Gurus…!”
• “quick and easy way to rake in some serious cash online”
• “The Easiest And Most Profitable Business Opportunity On The Internet”
• “I Earned a $538 Profit My First Week” [Dani Mendez]
• “**SUPER BONUS** Just for a select few…you may not qualify for this one.”

Pursuant to the ERSP Policies and Procedures, after not substantively
responding to ERSP’s original inquiry within fifteen calendar days, the direct
response marketer was afforded a second ten-day period in which to submit a
substantive response. The marketer again did not submit a written response
to the inquiry and pursuant to section 2.6 (B) of the ERSP Policies and
Procedures, this matter has been referred to the FTC.