Eye care advertising draws fire from Better Business Bureau. (Houston's Better Business Bureau)

Eye care advertising draws fire from Better Business Bureau

Eye care chains sometimes offer less than meets the eye.

Houston's Better Business Bureau has spent years gathering evidence that some major industry players aren't playing by the rules with their long-running ad campaigns pushing free glasses and discount deals. And after amassing everything from published advertisements to undercover tape recordings, BBB President Dick McClain has come to the conclusion that the public is being misled.

But national advertising watchdogs have given McClain little support, and federal regulators have shrugged him off.

The Federal Trade Commission sets specific guidelines for fair play in industry advertising. However, when McClain complained to the FTC, officials there suggested he pursue the matter through the BBB.

So he tracked ads and found "special" offers that weren't special after all. Some of the eye care promotions have …