MADISON, CONN., Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — No Super Bowl is complete without at least one car commercial full of red, white and blue flags and overt references to Americana with images of farms, cowboy boots and apple pies. Because patriotism sells and no one knows that better than the auto industry that spends money billion of dollars in advertising each year. But despite the patriotic marketing, the globalization of the auto industry means there is no such thing as a made in the USA car; something advertising watchdog truthinaadvertising.org (TINA.org) recently had to do recall seven car manufacturers go too far with their advertising claims.

A TINA.org detection found that Toyota, BMW, Honda, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda and Tesla, which together account for almost half of the US market share, advertise their vehicles as “made”, “built” or “manufactured” in the United States , if the cars are actually assembled in the US using a significant amount of foreign parts. According to the FTC, a product advertised as “made,” “built,” or “manufactured” in the United States must be “entirely or substantially wholly” manufactured in the United States. This means that it must contain “no – or negligible – third-party content”. Examples of misleading marketing cited in the letters include: national television Advertising, youtube To sue, Facebook and Twitter Contributions, as well as claims made on corporate websites.

“While companies have every right to promote their contribution to the American economy by emphasizing local workers and certain domestically performed processes, they cannot exaggerate the extent of their US-based manufacturing. American consumers who prefer products that are made in the United States, and are even willing to pay a premium for them, deserve truthful marketing of origin from the auto industry,” said Bonnie Patten, executive director of TINA.org.

TINA.org told each of the seven automakers that they are “reducing production levels that…