Federal Trade Commission v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (defendant) advertised its Rapid Shave shaving cream's moisturizing power through television commercials showing the product applied to sandpaper that was immediately shaved clean, but the sandpaper shown was actually fake plexiglass-and-sand, and real sandpaper would need 80 minutes of soaking in Rapid Shave before it could be shaved clean at all. The FTC (plaintiff) found the commercials deceptive under section 5, and after a hearing examiner dismissed the complaint, the full Commission reversed and issued a cease-and-desist order barring undisclosed simulations; the court of appeals held the order too vague, and the FTC sought certiorari.