The Colgate Palmolive Co. (Colgate) manufactured and sold a shaving cream called Rapid Shave. Colgate hired Ted Bates & Company (Bates), an advertising agency, to prepare television commercials designed to show that Rapid Shave could shave the toughest beards. With Colgate’s consent, Bates prepared a television commercial that included the sandpaper test. The announcer informed the audience, “ To prove Rapid Shave’s super-moisturizing power, we put it right from the can onto this tough, dry sandpaper. And off in a stroke.”
While the announcer was speaking, Rapid Shave was applied to a substance that appeared to be sandpaper, and immediately a razor was shown shaving the substance clean. Evidence showed that the substance resembling sandpaper was in fact a simulated prop, or “mock up,” made of Plexiglas to which sand had been glued. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a complaint against Colgate and Bates, alleging a violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Did the defendants acted ethically in this case? Have the defendants engaged in false and deceptive advertising, in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act? Federal Trade Commission v. Colgate Palmolive Company, 380 U. S. 374, 85 S. Ct. 1035, 1965 U. S. Lexis 2300 (Supreme Court of the United States)