In 1938, a far weaker law was passed; the Federal Trade Commission regained its powers to oversee advertising through a ban on “unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” which referred only to factually untrue statements, not the potential inferences targeted by Tugwell. The new law reflected “a five-year effort to render such protections painless for business interests”; and many at the time argued, like Milton Handler, a law professor at Columbia, that it did not go far enough: “While the [new law] represents a sincere attempt to stem the avalanche of false and misleading advertising, it is no more than a first, and unfortunately, inadequate step in that direction. Unless buttressed by clarifying amendments broadening its prohibitions and implementing it with effective sanctions, it will not effect an abiding solution of the vexing problem of false and misleading advertising.”

Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, loc. 281