Advertisers have been hiding too much information in the fine print, said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in letters it sent to more than 60 companies on Tuesday, including 20 of the United States’ 100 largest advertisers.The letters are part of “Operation Full Disclosure,” an operation initiated by the FTC on September 23, 2014 that targets deceptive and misleading advertisements which fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose information that is important to consumer buying decisions.

According to the FTC, advertisers who were recipients of the letters have been violating the law by hiding important information in the fine print of advertisements, or failing to disclose the information altogether, when such information should be presented in close proximity to the claims to which the information relates and in a type size that consumers can easily read.Consumers depend on advertisers to provide them with full and truthful information about the products they sell. When information is hidden from them or phrased deceptively, consumers may not be getting the deal they thought they bargained for. When information is hidden away in fine print, it obviously draws suspicion that it is information that the advertiser doesn’t really want consumers to see. The FTC did not disclose the advertisers to whom it sent Operation Full Disclosure letters, but it explained that letters were sent to a broad spectrum of advertisers in a wide range of industries. The FTC also shared samples of the types of advertisements that were targeted. For example, the FTC’s press release states that “[m]any ads quoted the price of a product or service, but did not adequately disclose conditions for obtaining that price, while others did not adequately disclose an automatic billing feature.”

The FTC also pointed to ads promoting “risk free” trial periods that failed to adequately disclose that consumers would need to pay shipping and handling charges to return the product.Consumers are often surprised to learn that after purchasing a product, they have been enrolled in an automatic billing program or they are hit with other surprise charges that they did not know they were agreeing to. While advertisers should be given some leeway to sell their products, no one should walk away from a purchase feeling deceived or paying more than they expected. Operation Full Disclosure focused on television and print advertisements, but followed another recent similar effort by the FTC that focused on advertisements and disclosures made by companies on the internet and mobile devices. Ultimately the FTC is sending a loud and clear message that wherever companies advertise, their advertisements must be truthful and provide all of the information necessary to consumer buying decisions in a clear and straightforward manner. Despite the large scale efforts by the FTC, their resources are limited. Consumers should always remain vigilant when making buying decisions and if they feel like they have been taken advantage of, seek help so that others do not have to end up going through the same thing.