Seeing sales of its tennis balls in decline, the brand manager at Tennis Pro International made minor changes to the brand's packaging (moving from three-ball packages to four-ball packages) and promoted this as a new product. How would the Federal Trade Commission respond to this decision?

Question

Multiple choice question.

It probably would not approve of it.

It is not responsible for advertising regulations, so it would not respond.

It would allow the company to call the product "new" for only one year.

It would agree that the product is new and would allow it to be promoted that way.

Answer 1

The most appropriate response regarding how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would view Tennis Pro International's decision to market its modified packaging as a new product is:

It probably would not approve of it.

The FTC is concerned with advertising practices and deception in marketing. Simply changing the packaging from three balls to four does not fundamentally change the product itself, and thus marketing it as "new" might be considered misleading or deceptive. The FTC generally requires that for a product to be labeled as "new," there should be a significant change in the product that adds value or alters its use.