New York, NY - July 28, 2004. The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. (CBBB), is pleased to announce that The Upper Deck Company, LLC has addressed concerns raised by advertising for its "2004 Power Up! Baseball Collect Play and Win!" sweepstakes. The advertising appeared in the May 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids magazine and directed readers to a Website for further details on the sweepstakes.

CARU had two concerns regarding the advertising: insufficient disclosure of free alternate means of entry and inadequate directions on how to play and win.

CARU's Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising, in the section on "Disclosures and Disclaimers", provides, "All disclosures and disclaimers that are material to a child should be in language understandable by the child audience, legible and prominent." The "Sweepstakes and Contests" section states, "Alternate means of entry should be disclosed." Although the print ad contained a "No purchase necessary" disclosure, it was in extremely small type and therefore insufficiently legible and prominent.

The print ad run was over during the course of CARU's inquiry, and Upper Deck modified its Website to clearly explain how to play and the alternate method of entry.

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 at elascoutx@caru.bbb.org

######

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.