The "Were We Duped? Story

It was an ordinary day.  There on the front page of Lancaster's LNP Always Lancaster morning newspaper was the headline: "ORIGIN STORY - Feds: Bollman Hat marketing tack was misleading."  It was back on November 27, 2016 that I wrote a story about my brother Steve and I making a visit to the Bollman Hat Company which is located in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.  

The Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.

We had a great visit.  Had a chance to meet Don Rongione, president and CEO of Bollman Hat Co. who talked to us and told us that every piece of clothing, from his underwear to his Bollman hat had been made in America.  Now I'm finding out that he may have been fibbing.  Story in he newspaper tells of Bollman Hat Co. settling a federal complaint alleging it falsely and deceptively implied that all of it products are made in America when in reality, they aren't.  Naturally Bollman denies the allegations by the Federal Trade Commission.  

Logo in question.

At issue was Bollman's use of their marketing phrases, "American Made Matters," "Choose American," and "Made in USA since 1868."  The FTC said that consumers such as Steve and I could have concluded that all Bollman products are made in the United States.  That's exactly what we concluded, since that's what he told us.  Just happens not to be true.  As for me..."Say it ain't so Don!"  The FTC was able to prove that in many instances Bollman's products are totally imported while in others there are significant inputs to their products from overseas.  Therefore the representation that they are American Made is false or misleading.  And...I agree!  

Mr. Don Rongione, company President and CEO.

Mr. Rongione said the issue seems to come from the "American Made Matters" logo on their website.  Duh!  Seems that "American Made Matters" is a campaign that he started in 2009 and other companies could join the campaign if they met certain standards and claim the same thing...for a price.  Evidently Mr. Rongione shouldn't have been using his own logo.  He said that he never suggested that every branded and private label product that Bollman Hat Co. produced was made in their factory.  Now, he is right when he says this.  He never said that all the products they sell were made in Adamstown, but I'm sure that most everyone on the tour that Steve and I were on assumed they were made there.  I think we might have been duped.  

One of the product lines at the factory.

But, to be fair, what we did see being made were top notch quality.  And, the workers were fantastic artisans.  The newspaper story did say that the CEO pointed out the company imports their straw hat bodies, known as blanks, then shapes, stiffens and dyes the hats at Adamstown.  Those hats are labeled "made in the USA of globally sourced materials."  70% of their hats styles are imported or finished products.  Since the complaint, their website took down the "American Made Matters" logo.  That was the logo or seal that the FTC was critical of in the past.  Mr. Rongione countered that his logo never said all hats were totally made in the USA.  I can see both sides of the story and hope there can be a satisfactory outcome for both sides.  The Bollman Hat Company is the USA's oldest hat manufacturer, having been founded 150 years ago and owned by the employees, and I hate to see it struggle due to logo wording.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.