Material Truths Team

Concepts

Shell Company Consumer Brands: How to Find Out Who Actually Owns a DTC Company

Last updated: May 4, 2026 A shell company in consumer branding is an LLC with no independent physical operations that exists primarily to hold a consumer brand, own its domain and trademark, accept payments, and limit the legal exposure of the operators. Most DTC brands use LLCs — that is normal.

Concepts

Anchor Pricing: How "Fake Original Prices" Inflate Perceived Discounts

Last updated: May 4, 2026 Anchor pricing displays a fabricated or inflated "original" or "retail" price next to a lower current price to create the impression of a significant discount. When the anchor price is fabricated — the product has never actually sold at that price — the

Concepts

What Is an FTC Consent Order? What It Means When a Brand Signs One

Last updated: May 3, 2026 An FTC consent order is a binding settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and a company that resolves an enforcement action without the company admitting wrongdoing. The respondent agrees to specific conduct changes: prohibitions on future deception, monetary penalties, consumer redress, and reporting obligations. Violations

Concepts

Drop Shipping Scams: How to Spot AliExpress Markup Schemes and TikTok Shop Fraud

Last updated: May 3, 2026 Drop shipping scams take commodity products from AliExpress, Temu, or Alibaba, wrap them in branded storefronts, and resell them at 5 to 10 times wholesale cost using paid creator content and fabricated brand stories. The fulfillment model itself is legal — what turns it into a

Concepts

Clinically Tested vs. Clinically Proven

Last updated: April 28, 2026 "Clinically tested" means a product was included in clinical testing — it says nothing about whether the product worked. "Clinically proven" implies demonstrated efficacy. Consumers typically treat the two as equivalent, which is exactly why brands use "tested" to get

Concepts

Made in USA: What the FTC Rule Requires, Real Enforcement Cases, and How to Verify

Last updated: April 28, 2026 An unqualified "Made in USA" claim requires, under the FTC's Made in USA Labeling Rule, that the product's final assembly occurs in the United States, all significant processing occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients

Concepts

Astroturfing: Fake Grassroots Marketing, How to Spot It, and What the FTC Says

Last updated: April 25, 2026 Astroturfing is marketing that disguises brand-sponsored messaging as independent consumer enthusiasm or grassroots support. The name comes from AstroTurf — artificial grass that simulates the real thing. In consumer products, astroturfing typically involves paid influencers without disclosure, employees posting as ordinary consumers, and manufactured social media

Concepts

Greenwashing: What It Is, What the FTC Green Guides Require, and How to Spot It

Last updated: April 25, 2026 Greenwashing is the practice of making misleading or unsubstantiated claims about the environmental benefits of a product, service, or company practice. It includes vague "eco-friendly" labels, fabricated certifications, unsubstantiated carbon-neutral claims, and imagery implying natural origins when products are synthetic. The FTC'

Concepts

Fake Reviews: How Common They Are, How to Spot Them, and What the Law Says Now

Last updated: April 21, 2026 Fake reviews are fabricated or manipulated consumer testimonials designed to mislead buyers about a product's quality, popularity, or legitimacy. They include AI-generated reviews, paid reviews from non-customers, insider reviews without disclosure, and suppressed negative reviews. The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials

Concepts

Patent vs. Trademark: The Difference That Determines If a Product Claim Is Real

Last updated: April 21, 2026 A patent protects a novel invention; a trademark protects a name. Brands exploit the confusion between the two to imply technological innovation when they have registered only a name. The distinction is precise in law and free to verify, but the ambiguity is profitable for

Concepts

What Is a Proprietary Blend? The Legal Meaning and Why It Matters

Last updated: April 20, 2026 A proprietary blend is a combination of multiple ingredients listed on a supplement or product label as a single combined weight, without disclosing the individual amount of each ingredient. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) permits this labeling format, which means

Concepts

Sciencewashing: What It Is, How to Spot It, and Why It Works

Last updated: April 20, 2026 Sciencewashing is the use of clinical-sounding language, technical terminology, or cherry-picked data to make ordinary products appear scientifically advanced when they are not. It typically involves inventing proprietary names for commodity materials, citing internal studies as independent research, and invoking scientific concepts that sound authoritative