CEI TV Ad “Versus” to Run Sunday During NBC’s Meet the Press as Part of Eye on FTC Campaign

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will run a 30 second television ad as part of its Eye on FTC campaign on Sunday, January 29 during NBC’s Meet the Press in the Washington, DC market.

The ad, titled “Versus,” draws attention to the Federal Trade Commission’s expanded use of antitrust enforcement and lack of transparency under Chair Lina Khan.

Read over images of news clips and consumers paying bills, the ad begins: “Rising inflation. Rising food, energy, and housing prices. In these uncertain times, unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Trade Commission are overreaching their authority with a power grab—crushing innovation with a lack of transparency and by abandoning time-tested legal principles.”

FTC’s use of antitrust enforcement as an ideologically-driven power grab threatens consumers by discouraging innovation and creating economic uncertainty in a time of inflation-driven hardship. The FTC should instead focus on upholding the consumer welfare standard and on their mission of protecting consumers from fraud.

The ad concludes: “The FTC needs to do its job and protect Americans from fraud…and once again be accountable to Congress AND consumers.”

“CEI believes the FTC’s ideologically-driven power grab is an abuse of antitrust enforcement authority and harms consumers by creating economic uncertainty and undermining innovation,” said Director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin. “As the first ad in our Eye on FTC campaign, ‘Versus’ will make the case to legislators and policymakers that the FTC should be more accountable to Congress and act in the interest of consumers.”

View “Versus” on CEI’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/kK1EdIgSMmg

Housed on CEI.org, Eye on FTC is a hub for original work by CEI experts and allies pushing back on FTC’s increasingly aggressive antitrust actions and policies, information about events discussing the FTC’s agenda and policymaking, and a tracker for FTC agency actions like requests for comment, final rulemakings, and adjudications.  

For more information on CEI’s Eye on FTC campaign, please visit cei.org/EyeOnFTC.