By JUSTIN ROHATINSKY
A settlement said to have been reached between the Gerber Products Company and the Federal Trade Commission concerning false and misleading advertising turns out to be false and misleading itself.
In March 1997, the Gerber Products Company was accused and later charged by the FTC of making claims in their advertisements that were not totally true. Gerber was running ads claiming that four out of five pediatricians who recommended baby food recommended Gerber, said Anne Maher, of the the FTC. 'This was an exaggeration', she said.
Gerber did settle with the FTC under the terms of 'don't do it again,' said Victoria Streitfeld, of the FTC's Office of Public Affairs. 'The FTC also imposed a number of stricter recordkeeping and reporting requirements on Gerber.'
There is a document in circulation claiming that Gerber was ordered by the FTC to give every child born between 1985 and 1997, under the age of 12, a $500 U.S. savings bond. The document also states that Gerber is not required by law to advertise this settlement information or attempt to contact the product users.
In what looks like an attempt to ruin Gerber's reputation, the document claims word of mouth is the only way to spread this information to make sure that 'Gerber gets what it deserves.'
Gerber officials who were contacted for this story, as well as the FTC, said these rumors are inaccurate and not true.
Gerber officials posted an advisory, warning people against believing this claim and following the instructions on the 'false' document.
The document falsely said, 'Bonds may be obtained by sending a copy of the child's birth certificate and social security card to a fake address in Minneapolis, Minn.'
'Anything like this, when they are asking for social security cards and birth certificates, or anything like them, is a dangerous situation,' Streitfeld said. 'You never know what they are going to do or are able to do with them, the possibilities are endless.'
Gerber and the FTC will soon sign a consent agreement settling on the terms described above. The agreement will not constitute an admission of a law violation, but will carry the force of law with respect to any future actions.
'The best advise is to avoid giving a social security and especially a birth certificate to anyone,' Maher said. 'If you get one of these documents in the mail or via e-mail, just throw it away.'