"# 1 Whitening Power!" was a powerful claim for Church & Dwight's Arm & Hammer with OxiClean liquid detergent, but it was unsupported by any evidence. For Unilever's Ragu pasta sauces, the use of the name Fresh & Simple was a no-no because "fresh" simply referred to the single-serving pouch the sauce came in; a fresh pouch was used every time.

That's what the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus concluded when it recently reviewed the two companies' ads. As the advertising industry's self-regulating forum, the NAD may initiate advertising reviews, but most cases arise from a competitor's challenge. Procter & Gamble challenged the detergent ad claims; Campbell Soup Company challenged Unilever. The result: Church & Dwight said it would modify its ads and labeling; Unilever said it decided to remove the Fresh & Simple brand name from packaging and ads, though at press time, Ragu continued to display that name online.

Many ads are found to be truthful, of course, and claims are OK if they're obvious "puffery," such as the ketchup slogan "Only the best tomatoes grow up to be Hunt's."

Summaries of NAD decisions are not just instructional—they're also often entertaining. Find them in the newsroom section at www.nadreview.org. To complain about a misleading ad, contact your local Better Business Bureau.