ANA Statement on Negative Option Filing

Dan Jaffe, Group Executive Vice President of Government Relations for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), today issued the following statement in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request for comment on the Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans.

ANA supports the FTC’s efforts to ensure that consumers are adequately informed of prenotification negative option plans and other advanced consent arrangements. We believe the Rule Concerning the Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans as it is currently written effectively addresses abusive negative option marketing and therefore recommend the FTC not expand the scope of the Rule.

In particular, we believe the Rule as it stands works well for consumers and businesses alike. It protects consumers by providing them with transparency and the ability to cancel recurring charges and provides a clear and flexible framework for businesses to offer advanced consent arrangements. There is strong regulation in this area and the FTC has been an active and effective regulatory watchdog.

ANA commends the FTC in its work to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive acts or practices. And we support the Commission’s efforts to ensure that consumers are adequately notified of prenotification negative option plans and other advance consent arrangements.

We thank the Commission for the opportunity to submit comments on the Rule and look forward to continuing the dialogue on the important topic of advanced consent marketing arrangements.

About the ANA:
The ANA (Association of National Advertisers)'s mission is to drive growth for marketing professionals, for brands and businesses, and for the industry. Growth is foundational for all participants in the ecosystem. The ANA seeks to align those interests by leveraging the 12-point ANA Growth Agenda, which has been endorsed and embraced by the ANA Board of Directors and the Global CMO Growth Council. The ANA's membership consists of nearly 1,700 domestic and international companies, including more than 1,000 client-side marketers and nonprofit fundraisers and close to 600 marketing solutions providers (data science and technology companies, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, suppliers, and vendors). Collectively, ANA member companies represent 20,000 brands, engage 50,000 industry professionals, and invest more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annually.