New York, September 4 - The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. is pleased to announce that the JAKKS Pacific, Inc. will consider CARU's concerns prior to the next flight of its Liqualoons television commercial.

CARU's concerns focused on the safety of the product and its method of operation. CARU found that although the packaging contained disclosures such as, "Recommended for outdoor use only"; "May permanently stain delicate fabrics and surfaces"; and "Young children should use this product with adult supervision", the commercial depicted children playing, unsupervised, with the Liqualoons bubbles indoors. The commercial showed the children catching bubbles on and in their hands and making objects by linking the bubbles together. Liqualoons bubbles become more resilient the longer they are airborne; the packaging directions instruct the user to allow the bubbles to float for ten seconds before attempting to catch or link the bubbles. The commercial failed to disclose this feature, and had no demonstration of how the bubbles were created.

Jakks Pacific informed CARU that the commercial flight ended during its inquiry. They asserted that the safety disclosures on the packaging were actually unnecessary and that they would be removed from future packaging. Jakks Pacific stated that they "take advertising to children and the findings of CARU very seriously". Therefore they would evaluate CARU's recommendations regarding method of operation prior to running the Liqualoons television commercial again.

CARU's inquiry was conducted under NAD/NARB/CARU Procedures for Voluntary Self-Regulation of National Advertising. Details of the inquiry, CARU's decision and the advertiser's response will be included in the next NAD/CARU Case Report.

Members of the press who wish to see a copy of the decision now should email CARU.

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The National Advertising Review Council (NARC) was formed in 1971 by the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA), the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc. (AAAA), the American Advertising Federation, Inc. (AAF), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB). Its purpose is to foster truth and accuracy in national advertising through voluntary self-regulation. NARC is the body that establishes the policies and procedures for the CBBB's National Advertising Division (NAD), the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU), and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB).

NAD and CARU are the investigative arms of the advertising industry's voluntary self-regulation program. Their casework results from competitive challenges from other advertisers, and also from self-monitoring traditional and new media, including the Internet. The National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appeals body, is a peer group from which ad-hoc panels are selected to adjudicate those cases that are not resolved at the NAD/CARU level. This unique, self-regulatory system is funded entirely by the business community; CARU is financed by the children's advertising industry, while NAD/NARB's sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the Council of Better Business Bureaus.