Practical Guide to Comparative Advertising: Dare to Compare

Practical Guide to Comparative Advertising: Dare to Compare is an authoritative, engaging handbook on comparative advertising for food and non-food consumer products. Claim substantiation is a common stakeholder interest among management, advertisers, lawyers and researchers. This handbook covers the corporate culture and strategic goals that encourage comparative advertising, laws and regulations, standards for research evidence, and examples that bring the concepts to life. Of particular value to corporate brand managers, the book includes a checklist of process steps and quality controls that allow managers to orchestrate comparative ad campaigns and manage the risk of complaints from indignant competitors.

Ruth is co-author of two books on Intellectual Property measurement and protection, author of the Canadian Federal Court benchbook chapter on Surveys and other Marketplace Evidence, and author of a published series of educational articles called “Dare to Compare,” regarding the strategies, laws, and required evidence governing comparative advertising. She led a national team on behalf of Advertising Standards Canada to update standards for evidence in trade disputes, and led the initiative of the Market Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) to update Canada’s standards for social science research and to harmonize them with those of ESOMAR. Ruth is currently the chair of MRIA’s Dispute Resolution Committee, whose mandate includes bridging communications between the courts and experts about litigation standards for evidence and best practice standards in the research industry.

Mr. Jirgal has nearly twenty years of experience representing clients in the entertainment, communications, food, and financial services industries in cases involving copyright, trademark, trade secret, corporate espionage, false advertising, contract, fiduciary duty, defamation, invasion of privacy, employment, civil forfeiture, antitrust and unfair competition claims. He regularly represents clients in state and federal court, in private arbitration and before the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division. He also counsels clients on advertising matters, including the substantiation needed for advertising claims, and the management, licensing and protection of intellectual property rights.

The advertising disputes in which Mr. Jirgal is involved often turn on cutting-edge technological issues, and the effective presentation of complex testing and statistical analysis. As an essential part of his practice, Mr. Jirgal also regularly oversees the design and critique of consumer perception surveys that can be dispositive in an advertising dispute involving implied claims.

David Mallen is partner and co-chair of advertising disputes at Loeb and Loeb LLP. He presently serves as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s, Section on Antitrust Law, Advertising Disputes & Litigation Committee.

In his capacity at Loeb and Loeb, Mr. Mallen offers guidance to marketers from a variety of industries in connection with national advertising campaigns, analysis of claim substantiation issues, and resolution of advertising disputes. He has specialized experience in industry sectors of food and beverages, cosmetics, OTC drugs, telecommunication services, consumer household products dietary supplements, and information technology.

Mr. Mallen is a popular speaker at conferences and workshops on advertising claim substantiation, U.S. standards for industry self-regulation, advertising in social media, sustainability and green marketing, and scientific sensory testing. He is the co-author of the e-book How To Make Credible Green Marketing Claims. What Marketers Need to Know about The Updated FTC Green Guides.