Advertising Law Blog

Lee Peeler, the President and CEO of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) and Executive Vice President, National Advertising, Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) recently announced that Andrea Levine, who has headed NAD for 20 years, is set to retire.

I was privileged to moderate Andrea’s 20-year retrospective at the 2016 NAD law conference.   There, Andrea shared her perspective on the transformation that occurred at NAD during her tenure. Her impact on the self-regulatory process will be felt for decades.

Lee Peeler’s message is quoted below:

“Andrea’s decision to take a well-earned respite provides an opportunity for the advertising community to reflect on the profound changes she has brought to the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and to appreciate the prominence and well-earned reputation for excellence NAD has achieved because of her leadership. During Andrea’s tenure, the NAD has published more than 2,600 case decisions and built the largest body of advertising precedent in the United States.

Andrea’s outstanding legal skills are apparent to all who have had the opportunity to participate in the NAD process. She has demonstrated a remarkable ability to guide the process to timely, fair, and legally sound decisions, even as the cases handled by the NAD have become progressively more complex and important to the participants. She is a superb leader and mentor, committed to the development and support of the NAD staff and to making NAD a place that consistently produces an ever-better work product.

Although Andrea’s primary legacy is her legal work, she also has transformed the NAD financially. Early on, Andrea identified the opportunity for and led development of the Online Archive of NAD decisions. Starting from a humble CD ROM, the Online Archive is now a searchable database of more than 6,000 advertising decisions. Working with then-NARC CEO James Guthrie, Andrea guided the NAD through the process of developing a competitor challenge process that would be supported by filing fees, ever mindful of the need to balance the NAD’s independence and objectivity with the development of the financial support required to maintain and strengthen the NAD. Further, under her leadership, the NAD Annual Conference has become the premier advertising regulation event in the country, as well as an important source of financial support for the organization.

The fact that Andrea has recruited and mentored an outstanding professional staff and that she has given us ample notice of her decision to retire will ensure a seamless transition and continuity of the excellent work product that consumers, advertisers and the government all expect from NAD. As NAD Director Andrea worked tirelessly to grow and constantly improve the NAD process and we will continue building on that legacy as we move to keep all our self -regulation programs vibrant and relevant.

All of us who believe in effective self-regulation owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Andrea.”

Take Away: NAD remains the forum to resolve advertising disputes efficiently and effectively. Andrea Levine has been integral in the transformation of this body. The advertising community owes her enormous debt of gratitude.