UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580 

Bureau of Consumer Protection 

 Division of Enforcement 

 Julia Solomon Ensor 

 Attorney 

Email: jensor@ftc.gov 

Direct Dial: (202) 326-2377 

March 26, 2020 

VIA EMAIL 

Gregory Luib, Esq. 

Dechert LLP 

1900 K Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

gregory.luib@dechert.com 

Dear Mr. Luib: 

We received your submissions on behalf of Therm-Omega-Tech, Inc., d/b/a The BBQ 

Guru, Inc. (“BBQ Guru” or the “Company”). During our review, we discussed concerns that 

marketing materials with broad, unqualified claims that BBQ Guru products, including, but not 

limited to, grilling thermometers, are made in the United States may have failed to account for 

the fact that certain of these products contain significant foreign content. 

As discussed, unqualified U.S.-origin claims in marketing materials – including claims 

that products are “Made,” “Built,” or “Manufactured” in the USA – likely suggest to consumers 

that all products advertised in those materials are “all or virtually all” made in the United States.1 

The Commission may analyze a number of different factors to determine whether a product is 

“all or virtually all” made in the United States, including the proportion of the product’s total 

manufacturing costs attributable to U.S. parts and processing, how far removed any foreign 

content is from the finished product, and the importance of the foreign content or processing to 

the overall function of the product. 

To avoid deceiving consumers, BBQ Guru implemented a remedial action plan. This 

plan included: (1) hiring a third-party marketing and technology vendor to conduct a 

comprehensive review of all Company websites to identify and remove all “Made in USA” 

1

 Federal Trade Commission, Issuance of Enforcement Policy Statement on “Made in USA” and 

Other U.S. Origin Claims, 62 Fed. Reg. 63756, 63768 (Dec. 2, 1997). Additionally, beyond 

express “Made in USA” claims, “[d]epending on the context, U.S. symbols or geographic 

references, such as U.S. flags, outlines of U.S. maps, or references to U.S. locations of 

headquarters or factories, may, by themselves or in conjunction with other phrases or images, 

convey a claim of U.S. origin.” Id. 

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claims; (2) reviewing social media accounts to identify and remove claims; (3) identifying and 

removing unqualified claims on third-party sales platforms, including amazon.com and 

walmart.com; (4) removing claims from product packaging, including by stickering over 

unqualified claims until new packaging could be obtained; and (5) training customer service 

representatives on how to address country-of-origin questions from customers. 

If, in the future, BBQ Guru offers a new product that is “all or virtually all” made in the 

United States, it would be appropriate for the Company to update its marketing materials 

accordingly, provided that materials do not overstate the extent to which other products are made 

in the United States. As you know, FTC staff is available to work with companies to craft 

qualified claims that serve the dual purposes of conveying non-deceptive information to 

consumers and highlighting work done in the United States. 

Based on BBQ Guru’s actions and other factors, the staff has decided not to pursue this 

investigation any further. This action should not be construed as a determination that there was 

no violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45. The 

Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require. If 

you have any questions, you can reach me at (202) 326-2377. 

 Sincerely,

 Julia Solomon Ensor

 Staff Attorney 

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