Another in the "Can They Really Get Away With That?" File…
Like Jesse Walker below contemplating the Texas governor's claimed power to vaccinate schoolgirls all by his lonesome, I am similarly perplexed and seeking guidance on this claim, in an L.A. Times story about McDonald's coffee beating Starbucks in a taste test (keep working on that chai, clown–does anyone buy straight cups of coffee at Starbucks anyways, as opposed to the "vanilla bullshit latte cappa things" that Larry David spoke of?):
No matter how much McDonald's revels in its win of the taste test, the company might be hard-pressed to use it in promotions. Consumer Reports, which takes no advertising, strictly prohibits companies from using its findings in ads.
Really? Consumer Reports isn't even the FDA, and it claims the legal right to restrict a private company from making a truthful claim in advertising? Can this be true? Lawyers, jokesters, and general interest kvetchers, your insights sought in the comments thread.