What are the advantages and disadvantages of referring a complaint to a government agency?
Having a government agency pursue a false advertising claim does not cost anything, and the government has very powerful weapons in its legal arsenal to force companies to stop or correct their advertising. However, you first have to persuade the government that your case is worth taking. Federal agencies are often not interested in false advertising complaints that are local in nature. Many agencies, state as well as federal, are overloaded and will not take on a case unless they see it as high profile and important to the public. False advertising that involves health claims, public safety, consumer fraud and other things that clearly harm the public is much more likely to get the government’s attention than a simple commercial dispute between two companies. In addition, the government often works slowly. It can be many months before it sends a letter demanding substantiation. Government agencies also work in secret. Therefore, even if your company is the victim, the agency will not
