Word: ftc
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...FTC charges that at least since 1950 the firms have been "pursuing a common course of action" to "maintain and reinforce a noncompetitive market structure." During a two-year investigation of the industry, the commission staff concluded that the companies have been: 1) controlling supplies of crude oil and refined products through a complicated series of pricing and production decisions; 2) using oil-depletion allowances and other tax regulations to reap huge profits at the production level while running their refining, distribution and marketing operations so cheaply that other companies could not effectively compete; 3) ensuring a sufficient supply...
...result, more than 1,000 independent service stations were forced to close down this year, and gasoline shortages were particularly severe in the areas where independent refiners and marketers are concentrated. Moreover, the FTC contends, many users of gas and oil have had to pay higher prices than if a "competitively structured market" were in play...
...FTC report charges that the oil companies should have been able to predict increased demand and take steps to meet it. Instead, they "have attempted to increase profits by restricting output." Noting the number of major refinery expansions that have just been announced, the report brushes aside industry assertions that environmentalist complaints stalled refinery building. Said the FTC staff: "Now that governmental intervention has become a strong threat, these companies have suddenly overcome their environmental problems...
After the case reached the court level, Geritol's manufacturer, a subsidiary of Nabisco, eventually changed its advertising to a pitch aimed primarily at middle-aged women. Though the FTC has received some complaints about the more recent ads as well, it so far has not acted against them. Whether or not the newer messages have offended the Government, however, they have drawn spirited criticism from women. In one commercial a husband, after reciting his attractive spouse's achievements, intones: "My wife. I think I'll keep her." The Williams Co. might be well advised to note...
...health hazards of the small, tobacco-wrapped smokes that usually come in packs of 20. Because they can be easily inhaled in the same manner as cigarettes and have roughly the same amounts of nicotine and tars, they can be just as dangerous, the Government agencies contend. Therefore the FTC recommended last week that little cigars be treated like cigarettes under the law. If Congress agrees, television and radio advertising for the little cigars would be banned, and manufacturers would have to print a health-hazard warning on each package...