[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 23, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15523-15525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-06573]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152-3181]


Lord & Taylor, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid 
Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 14, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/lordtaylorconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Lord & Taylor, LLC--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3181'' on your comment and file your 
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/lordtaylorconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. 
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Lord & Taylor, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3181'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robin Rosen Spector, Attorney, (202) 
326-3740, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for March 15, 2016), on the World Wide Web at: 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before April 14, 2016. 
Write ``Lord & Taylor, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3181'' on 
your comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or

[[Page 15524]]

financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as 
discussed in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include 
competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, 
inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or 
customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/lordtaylorconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Lord & Taylor, LLC--
Consent Agreement; File No. 152-3181'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before April 14, 2016. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent 
order from Lord & Taylor, LLC (``Lord & Taylor'').
    The proposed consent order (``proposed order'') has been placed on 
the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by 
interested persons. Comments received during this period will become 
part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will 
again review the agreement and the comments received, and will decide 
whether it should withdraw from the agreement or make final the 
agreement's proposed order.
    This matter involves Lord & Taylor's use of paid spokespersons to 
promote, in social media, its private label line, ``Design Lab,'' an 
apparel collection aimed at women ages eighteen to thirty-five. The 
Commission's complaint alleges that Lord & Taylor paid fifty fashion 
influencers to wear and simultaneously post on Instagram photos of a 
particular Design Lab item--the Paisley Asymmetrical Dress. In most 
instances, the Instagram post did not mention any connection between 
the influencer and Lord & Taylor. The complaint also alleges that Lord 
& Taylor sponsored an article, also featuring the dress, that appeared 
to be an independent and objective review of the Design Lab collection 
in an online fashion magazine. The article did not disclose the 
connection between Lord & Taylor and the magazine. The complaint 
alleges that Lord & Taylor violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by 
misrepresenting that the Instagram images and captions reflected the 
independent statements of impartial fashion influencers, when, in fact, 
the postings were created as part of an advertising campaign for Lord & 
Taylor. The complaint further alleges that Lord & Taylor violated 
Section 5 by failing to disclose that the fashion influencers were paid 
endorsers. Finally, the complaint alleges that that Lord & Taylor 
misrepresented that the article that appeared on the fashion magazine 
Web site and the Design Lab posting on the magazine's Instagram account 
were independent statements or opinions regarding the launch of the 
Design Lab collection when, in fact, the article and posting were paid 
commercial advertising.
    The proposed order includes injunctive relief to address these 
alleged violations and requires Lord & Taylor to follow certain 
monitoring and compliance procedures related to its use of paid 
spokespersons or endorsers.
    Part I of the proposed order prohibits Lord & Taylor, in connection 
with the advertising of any product or service, from misrepresenting 
that an endorser of such product or service is an independent user or 
ordinary consumer of the product or service.
    Part II of the proposed order requires Lord & Taylor, in connection 
with the advertising of any product or service by means of an 
endorsement, to disclose clearly and conspicuously, and in close 
proximity to the representation, a material connection, if one exists, 
between the endorser and Lord & Taylor.
    Part III of the proposed order prohibits Lord & Taylor from 
misrepresenting that paid commercial advertising is a statement or 
opinion from an independent or objective publisher or source.
    Part IV of the proposed order sets out certain monitoring and 
compliance obligations that Lord & Taylor must meet with respect to any 
endorser with a material connection to Lord & Taylor, including: 
Obtaining signed acknowledgements from such endorsers that they will 
disclose their connection to Lord & Taylor; monitoring the endorsers' 
representations and disclosures; maintaining records of its monitoring 
efforts; and terminating endorsers who fail to disclose their 
connection to Lord & Taylor; provided, however, that if Lord & Taylor 
reasonably determines that an endorser's failure to disclose was 
inadvertent, it may provide an endorser with one notice of the failure 
to disclose and an opportunity to cure the disclosure prior to 
termination.
    Parts V through VIII of the proposed order require Lord & Taylor 
to: Keep copies of advertisements and promotional materials containing 
the representations or endorsements, contracts with endorsers and 
communications regarding disclosures required by Part II of the 
proposed order, relevant consumer complaints and inquiries, and 
documents demonstrating order compliance; provide copies of the order 
to officers, employees, and others with responsibilities with respect 
to the subject matter of the order; notify the Commission of changes in 
corporate structure that might affect compliance obligations under the 
order; and file compliance reports with the Commission.

[[Page 15525]]

    Part IX of the proposed order provides that the order will 
terminate after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
proposed order, and it is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify the 
proposed order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-06573 Filed 3-22-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P