LG under US scrutiny over false ad claim

By Lee Min-young

LG Electronics is under fire in the U.S. over false advertisement claims initially raised by rival Samsung.

According to industry sources, the U.S. National Advertising Self-Regulatory Council has taken issue with LG Electronics' promotional material for its OLED televisions, for the expressions, "perfect black" and "infinite contrast."

The investigative body referred the matter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Oct. 19.

The NAD said in a statement that the decision followed "LG's decision against complying with NAD recommendations regarding the 'perfect black' and 'infinite contrast' claims,” adding that the South Korean tech giant claimed the expressions were accurate and had very strong evidence, citing a LG Electronics spokesman.

Earlier, the NAD recommended LG discontinue the claims that LG's Super UHD and OLED televisions provided "perfect black" and "infinite contrast" in their display. The recommendation is said to have followed a complaint from rival Samsung.

LG later submitted additional evidence for reconsideration, but the NAD refused.

NAD is a self-regulatory body within the industry where companies mostly comply, once they modify or delete claims in their ads that the body considers inappropriate.

LG Electronics said it would prove at the FTC trial that the advertisements were not an exaggeration.

This is not the first time for LG Electronics has feuded with the NAD over advertisement issues. In April, the NAD called into question LG's campaign called "Question of the Q," targeting Samsung's “QLED.”

It said the advertisements were misleading and malicious, because Q was just marketing and there were no facts to support Samsung's QLED being the next innovation in television.