For example, a clothing store may advertise that a shirt is on sale at half-price when that advertised shirt was never sold at a higher price to begin with.
This occurs when a company claims that their product will provide specific benefits to end users that have never been officially proven. However, no medical data exist to validate that claim. As a result, a judge later orders them to stop promoting their product based on unsubstantiated claims. By doing so, one company gains an unfair marketing advantage over others. A good example of comparison inconsistencies is the way auto manufacturers sometimes market their vehicles against comparable makes and models.
When it comes to advertisements, state and federal false advertising laws protect consumers by requiring companies to be:. False advertising cases are usually heard in civil court and not criminal court. If found guilty of violating false advertising laws, a company may be ordered by the court to pay fines, notify consumers about the misleading information, and possibly pay damages to consumers plaintiffs they have misled.
If you believe that you or a loved one has been victimized by untruthful advertising we would like to hear from you about your experience. Your Email: Subscribe. Subscribe to our Newsletter. Misleading advertising What is misleading advertising? Examples of misleading advertising A false claim about the characteristics of the goods or service, e. The price or way the price is calculated is misrepresented, e. The way the goods or service are supplied is misrepresented, e.
Any aspect about the advertiser is misrepresented, e. The advertisement creates a false impression about a product or service, even if the information given is correct. Any important information is hidden or left out. Consumer credit advertising There are additional rules for the advertisement of credit loans, hire purchase agreements etc. Food products might include packing material to make them appear larger, or filler to increase the weight.
In a recent instance of this behavior, computer hard drive manufacturer Western Digital settled a class action lawsuit in involving claims about hard drive capacity. In computer science, one kilobyte KB equals 1, bytes of memory, based on the binary numeral system used by computers. One megabyte MB would be equal to the square of one KB, or 1,, bytes. The class action lawsuit alleged that Western Digital and other manufacturers used the decimal system, in which one KB equals 1, bytes and one MB equals one million bytes.
Better Pizza. Pizza Hut v. Businesses may offer a guarantee or warranty for their services that does not specify a remedy and then decline to provide any relief to consumers.
Contract law typically requires certainty in terms for a contract to be enforceable, so laws regulating deceptive and false advertising must fill in the gap. The FTC also enforces false advertising laws on behalf of consumers.
States have their own laws regulating false advertising and other deceptive trade practices. CA Bus. Last reviewed October Consumer Protection Contents. Deceptive Description A common form of false advertising involves deceptive or misleading product descriptions, particularly claims that a product has certain features or benefits that it does not, or that it is of a higher quality than it actually is.
Deceptive Pricing Another common false advertising scheme involves hidden fees or surcharges, which can cause the final price paid by a consumer to be substantially higher than the advertised price.
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