Kmart's Red Light Special

Kmart (Troy, Mich.) has pulled its “Dare to Compare” campaign from themedia and its stores after Target Corp. (Minneapolis) filed a lawsuitagainst the company for allegedly using false advertising. Kmart,however, denies ending the campaign because of the charges.

Kmart has remained steadfast that the “Dare to Compare” campaign, whichcompared prices between its merchandise and that of stores includingTarget, had not falsified the prices. Jack Ferry, Kmart spokesperson,explained that Kmart removed “Dare to Compare” signs from stores inorder to launch its nationwide “BlueLight Always” marketing campaign,which had been previously scheduled. “(The decision) is not in responseto the Target lawsuit,” Ferry said.

On August 21, 2001, Target filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court inMinnesota accusing Kmart of violating the U.S. Lanham Act, which governstruth in advertising, as well as Minnesota's consumer protection laws.Target said that an audit of Kmart's campaign, handled by a marketresearch firm, found that 74 percent of Kmart's advertised pricecomparisons were wrong.

“In essence, Kmart surrendered,” said James Hale, general counsel forTarget. “If they had not removed all of their signs, then we would havebeen in court 45 minutes from now this morning.” Hale said that Targethas not dropped the lawsuit against Kmart.