Acting on a complaint by the American Booksellers Association, the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the ad industry's regulatory agency, has ruled that Barnesandnoble.com's slogan, "If we don't have your book, nobody d s," is deceptive. The slogan appears in broadcast and print ads as well as on the Web site's home page.
An announcement by the ABA reported, "The NAD found that the case record demonstrated that 'there were a number of titles that BN.com did not have that could be obtained through independent booksellers.' " The NAD apparently ruled against Barnesandnoble.com because customers might take this boast literally.
The implications are small but possibly consequential. BN.com will have to qualify the statement if it hopes to continue using it. "It's both a moral and practical victory," ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz told PW . "This has been something that has stuck in the craw of independent booksellers for a long time." He said that Barnesandnoble.com has agreed to modify use of the phrase. The bookseller did not return a phone call for comment.
