February 04, 1998

Florida Sues American Family Publishers

The state of Florida has charged American Family Publishers (AFP), Tampa, and its celebrity spokesmen -- Dick Clark and Ed McMahon -- with using deceptive tactics to sell magazine subscriptions through its multimillion-dollar nationwide sweepstakes. Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth filed a civil complaint Feb. 2 in state court in Tampa, where the company processes sweepstakes entries. The complaint alleges deceptive tactics used by AFC include falsely suggesting a recipient must buy one or more subscriptions to win a prize or requiring those who did not order magazines to mail their entries in their own envelopes to an address in Georgia -- while those who did order were given a preaddressed envelope to mail to Tampa. "Not only is the process for nonpurchases more cumbersome, it creates the impression that such entries will receive different and possibly lesser consideration or prizes," Butterworth said. The complaint seeks up to $15, 000 per violation of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. AFP had no immediate comment.
Similar Articles

Sign up to our newsletters

Follow us on Twitter @dmnews

Latest Jobs:

More in Agency

From Information to Insight: Harnessing the Power of Big Data

Modern Family: A Reality for Today's Marketers

Modern Family: A Reality for Today's Marketers

Tide, Nordstrom, and Gap are three brands that market to the modern family

Rosetta Finds New CEO From Within

Rosetta Finds New CEO From Within

Publicis Groupe-owned digital agency Rosetta has appointed its former president and chief client officer Tom Adamski as CEO.