(May 5, 2010) NEW YORK — General Motors's controversial commercial featuring CEO Ed Whitacre has prompted advocacy group Competitive Enterprise Institute to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, charging GM with deceptive advertising, according to Advertising Age.

The Washington, D.C.-based group said the Detroit carmaker misled the public when it claimed in a national TV ad that it has paid back its bailout loan from the U.S. government. The spot, which was created by McCann-Erickson, Detroit, ended its run last week. A McCann spokeswoman referred calls to the client.

The commercial featured Whitacre walking through an assembly plant and saying “we have repaid our government loan in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.”

Critics, however, argue that the ad is disingenuous, saying the repayment came from another government bailout account — or as one TV pundit described it, “paying off your MasterCard with your Visa.”

In the complaint filed with the FTC, the Institute said the ad “gives the false impression that GM has used its own funds to pay back all the bailout money that it received from the federal government. In fact, GM has only repaid a fraction of those funds -- barely 10 percent.

"Moreover, GM apparently repaid its loan by using other federal funds.”

Complaints to the FTC can lead to FTC investigations.

Hans Bader, senior attorney for the Institute, said: “GM might argue that its ad is literally accurate, but the fact is it's completely misleading.”

The Institute describes itself as a “public interest group dedicated to free enterprise and limited government.”

GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said the automaker is aware of reports of the claim, but no one from the FTC has contacted GM directly.

“We're confident that our ad meets the FTC's guidelines,” she said.