As we noted previously, legislation was introduced in the New York legislature that would place stations in legal jeopardy for running food product advertising. The legislation, S.213B and A.4424B, proposed to fundamentally change the law regarding unfair and deceptive practices as it relates to food product advertisements.
We strongly opposed the legislation. We noted in our Memo in Opposition to the bills:
“While we agree that children should be protected from false and misleading advertising, the New York State Broadcasters Association, Inc., (NYSBA) must oppose the above-mentioned legislation in its present form. The overbreadth of this legislation would jeopardize the legality of nearly all food and food product advertising in New York State. The legislation could result in endless litigation involving legitimate advertisements for products in New York.”
As in the past, the legislation passed the New York Senate. With considerable effort, we were able to block this harmful legislation in the Assembly.
You can see the text of the legislation here.
You can see our opposition to the legislation here.