ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100044
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
ITS HERALDED AIR FILTERS really filter out only some, not nearly all, bad stuff, the Federal Trade Commission said.
Ford Motor Co. and its advertising agency, Young & Rubicam Inc., of New York, are settling charges that they falsely claimed that Ford's new air-filtration system could remove nearly all pollutants from a car's interior, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.
The filtration system actually could not screen out any gaseous pollutants such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides or very fine particles in air pollution, the FTC said Tuesday. The system does screen out road dust and pollen, the agency said.
Ford and the agency have not admitted any wrongdoing, and they do not have to pay a fine. But they have agreed never again to make such a broad claim in ads about the filtration system's ability to remove pollutants, said FTC spokeswoman Bonnie Jansen.
The FTC has estimated, citing industry sources, that Ford spent more than $100 million on newspaper, magazine, television and radio ads and promotional materials for its 1995 model vehicles that had the new filtration system.
Ford introduced the system on its Mercury Mystique and Contour cars in 1995, later expanding it to other models including the Lincoln Continental. The ads began in February 1995.
Jansen said the FTC wanted to ``send a message that companies needed to be more careful to have evidence to back up their claims.''
The settlement also would require Ford and Young & Rubicam to have scientific evidence to back up any pollution-removal claims for cabin air filters.
Young & Rubicam already is bound by a 1985 government order resolving charges over its deceptive advertising of household air filters, the FTC said.
The commission will accept public comment on the proposed consent agreement for 60 days before deciding whether to make the agreement final. Violation of the final agreement could result in a fine of up to $10,000 per instance.
The Ford case follows two cases in which the FTC charged three companies with making broad claims, without adequate evidence, that indoor air filters and purifiers would remove all pollutants from the air. Those cases were settled in June 1995.
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