Arlington, VA – July 24, 2006 – C. Lee Peeler, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has been named president and CEO of the National Advertising Review Council (NARC) and executive vice president, national advertising self-regulation, Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB), effective September 11.
"This is an honor and a pleasure," said Peeler, whose experience embraces a wide range of advertising-law issues. Peeler will succeed James R. Guthrie, who announced in April his intention to step down. "The CBBB is a leader in the promotion of business ethics and NARC has built a well-deserved reputation for effective industry self-regulation. I'm looking forward to working with the Board and the talented staff that have made NARC so successful," Peeler said.
NARC establishes the policies and procedures for the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation, which includes the CBBB’s National Advertising Division (NAD) and Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) and Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP).
The CBBB is the umbrella organization for 130 Better Business Bureaus throughout North America, and the administrative parent of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. NARC partners include the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).
Peeler joined the FTC in 1973. He served as associate director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection's Division of Advertising Practices for 16 years before he was named deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection in 2001. In addition to his leadership role at the federal agency, Peeler leads the United States' delegation to the consumer policy committee of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He meets regularly with foreign government officials to discuss the United States' advertising regulatory system, including the importance of industry self-regulation.
“Lee is well-respected and brings to the position more than 30 years’ experience with the industry, said Steven J. Cole, CBBB President and CEO. “He knows first-hand that advertising is a dynamic industry and he appreciates the business value of the independent guidance NAD, CARU, NARB and ERSP provide through their decisions and panel reports. We have come a long way in advertising self-regulation under Jim's tenure, and we will now continue that progress without missing a beat.”
The eight-member NARC Board of Directors unanimously approved Peeler’s appointment to the NARC post.
“We looked for a leader committed to fostering truth and accuracy in advertising, expanding corporate participation in advertising self-regulation, and continuing NARC’s educational mission,” said NARC Board Chair Nancy Wiese. “We’ve found that leader in Lee.”
###
Founded in 1970, the CBBB is the national organization for Better Business Bureaus. Through the network of BBBs in the United States and Canada, and its membership of 300 national corporations, the CBBB provides voluntary self- regulation and consumer and business education programs, including national and cross-border dispute resolution, national advertising review, BBBOnLine trustmark programs, BBB Wise Giving Alliance charity review and BBB MILITARY LINE. Since the founding of the first BBB in 1912, the Better Business Bureau system has grown to become the most recognized advocate for promoting ethical marketplace business and advertising practices, providing more than 60 million instances of service to consumers and businesses in 2004.
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) and Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), as well as for 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. 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/NARC/NARB’s sole source of funding is derived from membership fees paid to the CBBB. For more information about advertising self regulation, please visit www.narcpartners.org.