02 Mar 2005
Pregnancy org asked the US Federal Trade Commission to investigate what it terms deceptive and misleading trade practices by Consumers Union(R), publisher of Consumer Reports(R) magazine.
"It is deceptive of Consumer Reports to maintain a revenue producing business partnership with our for-profit competitors while writing allegedly objective reports about products and services produced by that same competitor," said Pregnancy.org founding member Mollee Olenick.
Consumer Reports, owned by Consumers Union, publishes a monthly magazine containing product reviews. According to the Consumers Union website, "[Consumers Union] accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers."
However, Olenick clarifies, Consumer Reports is in a partnership with BabyCenter(R), an online division of Johnson & Johnson(R). Johnson & Johnson provides Consumers Union deeply discounted advertising and maintains a web page where users may subscribe to Consumer Reports. In exchange, Consumer Reports allows Johnson & Johnson to publish reviews from Consumer Reports. Subscription fees are split between Consumer Reports and Johnson & Johnson.
"Consumer Reports runs a sterling review of BabyCenter - updated as recently as September, 2004 - with no mention about their business relationship," Olenick said. "Ironically, the only item Consumer Reports faults Johnson & Johnson on is a lack of adequate disclosure." Consumer Reports does not have reviews on similar sites, including iVillage.com(R), BabyZone(R), BabyAge.com(R), or Pregnancy.org.
Consumer Reports acknowledges the relationship when asked, but does not widely advertise the arrangement. "This alliance ... enables Consumer Reports to reach one of the largest purchasing audiences on the Web...," said Consumers Union vice president John Sateja in a 2001 news article.
The Consumer Reports website makes no mention of income producing business partnerships. "[Consumer Reports] supports itself through the sale of our information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants," reads the Consumers Union website.
Pregnancy.org is a general purpose website, run by volunteers, spanning pre-conception through early childhood that receives 6.5 million monthly page views. Fully disclosed advertising revenues and sponsorships are used to cover operational overhead.
Pregnancy.org hopes the Federal Trade Commission will require Consumer Reports to purchase and distribute corrective advertising and agree to refrain from deception in the future.
Contact:
Mollee Olenick
Founding Member, Pregnancy.org
21976 Palm Grass Dr.
Boca Raton, FL 33428
www.pregnancy.org
[email protected]
