False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising. though false advertising is illegal many comanies find a way around this by deceving consumers in ways that are not illegal.
Tactics for False Advertising and what Advertisement must do
The Bait and Switch is when a store advertise something for a really low price and then when you get there they convince you to buy the more expensive item by telling you how bad the advertised item is.
Sales Item gone when you get there. Store are required to have a certain amount of stock on an advertised item. Just having a few popular items may mean the store never intended to honor the sale price.
How many can I buy. Store cannot limit the number of an item you can buy unless it specifically advertised.
Pictures. If an advertisement contains a picture it must be reasonable representation of the item.
Advertisement must tell you if you have to buy something in packaging
Advertisements must tell you if it is new or used
If a store has multiple models of an item it must clearly state which one is being advertised
Advertised item must do what is advertised
Items that are advertised as best price in town are not always the best price
For an item to be on sale it must have had a higher former price within the last three months
Now through Saturday only $1.99: If the regular price is $1.99, then this advertisement while true is misleading and against the law.
If a company says they are going out of business, liquidating, or quitting, they must intend to go out of business.
If you need to buy something to get the sale price on another item, the advertisement must tell you this
The outside of the package must indicate if a children’s toy needs to be assembled.
Made in USA” there is also a town in china named USA to get around this; then no part of it can be made outside the USA
If a store claims an item is biodegradable, or environmentally friendly, they must provide supporting information upon request.
False food advertising
Government Intervention
The Federal Trade Commission was originally established in 1914 under the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. It was established to deal with issues that touch the economic life of Americans. Meaning anything we buy. They were originally established in order to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce. However it has bloomed into something for consumer protection laws such as telemarketing laws. The FTC also pursues judicial action when companies advertise false things abut their products. Over the history of the FTC several companies have been prosecuted because of false advertisement.
The Food and Drug Administration "oversees the federal requirements to prohibit false or misleading food labels" which then the Federal Tade Commission enforces through the legal process. One example of the FTC at work is filing a comlaint that Pom Wonderful is misleading of the health benifits(Huffstutter). The product claims to help "heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction" which the FTC questions how much research was actually done on the product (Huffstutter).
Recent Cases: A women has brought taco bell to court and plans to sue them over their meat. she claims that their meat only contains 30% beef. As per n the USDA definition in the lawsuit says, to be called "ground beef," the product must "consist of chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders."
A foreign case of false advertising is Asda, a groecery chain owned by wal-mart, claimed that it had money back garuntee that if you found a price that was lower than theirs they would give you your money back(Gordon). This was claimed to be false advertising because this did not cover non-food items as well upon which the Adveritising Standards Authority in Britain forced Asda to withdraw some ads(Gordon). However this does not mean a government organiztion will just act on a comlaint alone but will do reseach of ther own such as in the Asda case were many of the complaints filed were found to be unjustified(Gordon). The government also has many laws out to protect the consumer. The truth in labeling refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label. Advertising is regulated by the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, a United States administrative agency, to prohibit "unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce."
What is False Advertising?
False advertising or deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising. though false advertising is illegal many comanies find a way around this by deceving consumers in ways that are not illegal.
Tactics for False Advertising and what Advertisement must do
False food advertising
Government Intervention
The Federal Trade Commission was originally established in 1914 under the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. It was established to deal with issues that touch the economic life of Americans. Meaning anything we buy. They were originally established in order to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce. However it has bloomed into something for consumer protection laws such as telemarketing laws. The FTC also pursues judicial action when companies advertise false things abut their products. Over the history of the FTC several companies have been prosecuted because of false advertisement.
The Food and Drug Administration "oversees the federal requirements to prohibit false or misleading food labels" which then the Federal Tade Commission enforces through the legal process. One example of the FTC at work is filing a comlaint that Pom Wonderful is misleading of the health benifits(Huffstutter). The product claims to help "heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction" which the FTC questions how much research was actually done on the product (Huffstutter).
Laws on food labeling http://consumer.laws.com/labeling-packaging-laws/food-labeling.
Recent Cases:
A women has brought taco bell to court and plans to sue them over their meat. she claims that their meat only contains 30% beef. As per n
the USDA definition in the lawsuit says, to be called "ground beef," the product must "consist of chopped fresh and/or frozen beef with or without seasoning and without the addition of beef fat as such, shall not contain more than 30 percent fat, and shall not contain added water, phosphates, binders, or extenders."
A foreign case of false advertising is Asda, a groecery chain owned by wal-mart, claimed that it had money back garuntee that if you found a price that was lower than theirs they would give you your money back(Gordon). This was claimed to be false advertising because this did not cover non-food items as well upon which the Adveritising Standards Authority in Britain forced Asda to withdraw some ads(Gordon). However this does not mean a government organiztion will just act on a comlaint alone but will do reseach of ther own such as in the Asda case were many of the complaints filed were found to be unjustified(Gordon). The government also has many laws out to protect the consumer. The truth in labeling refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label. Advertising is regulated by the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, a United States administrative agency, to prohibit "unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce."
30 statements made by cell tech that have been found false: http://www.mlmwatch.org/04C/CT/ruling.html
GOOD PLACES TO FIND MORE INFORMATION:
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus35-advertising-faqs-guide-small-business