NEW YORK (March 16, 2010)—Michelin North America Inc. should change or discontinue certain advertising claims it makes for its HydroEdge tire, according to the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus.
Responding to a complaint from Bridgestone Americas, the NAD recommended that information Michelin provided in end notes in its brochures to tire dealers should be made more prominent and placed in immediate proximity to product claims.
Among other things, the NAD also recommended that Michelin discontinue references to “competition” or “other tires” in the brochures' charts and make points of comparison clearer in other parts of the brochures.
Michelin told the NAD the brochures no longer are in circulation, but it plans to continue to use the same advertising claims in other formats.
The tire maker said it will appeal the NAD decision to the National Advertising Review Board, although it will adopt the NAD's recommendations for changing Internet ads for the HydroEdge.