Puffery and Truth Telling
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Transcript of Puffery and Truth Telling
PUFFERY, DECEPTION & TRUTH TELLINGPUFFERY, DECEPTION & TRUTH TELLING
Presented by,Presented by,
Vishwanath & KavithaVishwanath & Kavitha
23rd March `09
What is puffery ?
Puffery is a term used in the advertising industry
to describe the hype and exaggeration that may
be present in advertising meant to grab
consumers' attention.
Puffery refers to an advertising claim that is not
false - because the product does possess that
quality to a certain extent - but it is an
exaggerated claim. It is a subjective claim that
cannot be proved right or wrong.
23rd March `09
What is puffery ?
Puffery refers to the exaggerated claim of a
product's superiority or the use of subjective or
vague statements that may not be literally true.
Puffery consists of promotional claims that no
one out of diapers takes literally.
Thus, puffery is generally not considered
deceptive advertising.
23rd March `09
More…
Courts around the world have traditionally been
generous towards advertisers. They’ve allowed
puffing or ‘seller's talk’ as it is also known.
``Puffery is used because it works, legal because
it doesn't.”– Ivan Preston (expert on truth in Ivan Preston (expert on truth in
advertising).advertising).
23rd March `09
What is Deceptive advertising ?
There is a thin line between puffery and
deceptive advertising.
Deceptive advertising occurs when an
advertisement is introduced into the perceptual
process of the audience and the outcome of the
perceptual process either differs from the reality
of the situation or affects the buying behaviour
of the consumer detrimentally.
23rd March `09
What Is Deceptive advertising ?
Deception is involved when due to advertising:
(a) a consumer perceives a claim (being explicitly
or implicitly made by the advertiser)
differently from what it actually is;
(b) then buys the product under the influence of
a mistaken impression and then suffers a loss
as a consequence. Thus, either the claim
itself could be false or at least the impression
being created is false.
23rd March `09
Example of Deceptive ads
In an advertisement for Palmolive shaving cream,
the cream lather was shown to be effective enough
to shave sand grains off sand paper implying that if
the cream could shave sand paper, it could tackle
the toughest beard. But what was not disclosed was
the fact that the sand paper was soaked in water for
24 hours before shooting of the Ad. Would you
immerse your face in water for 24 hours before
shaving? Lets watch a video here
23rd March `09
Examples of puffery
Unlike what has been shown in the ad, bears don’t drink Coke.
23rd March `09
Taking a closer look…
MYTH: A claim can be substantiated if it has
several studies supporting it.
TRUTH: A claim is only substantiated if the
studies were scientifically controlled and
validated by experts in the field and the party
conducting the study had no incentive to obtain
particular results. A claim may be substantiated
if there is an absence of relevant studies
contradicting the results.
23rd March `09
More…
MYTH: If your product has some benefit, the
advertisement will not be challenged.
TRUTH: Even real product claims must be
substantiated with scientific evidence.
MYTH: Testimonials are substantiation.
TRUTH: They are not - even if the testimonials are
backed up with affidavits from individuals stating
that the product performed as promised. Anecdotal
evidence is not considered.
23rd March `09
More…
MYTH: If endorsers actually use and like the
product, it is safe to use their endorsements.
TRUTH: Even if the endorser is making truthful
statements the claim must consider whether the
endorser's experiences are typical. If the results
are not substantiated the claim needs to disclose
what results may be generally expected and that
there is no typical.
23rd March `09
More…
MYTH: If a deceptive claim is followed with a
disclosure, liability is removed.
TRUTH: If a claim cannot be substantiated do
not make it. The claim may have to be narrowed
down to what can be substantiated. Disclosures
that contradict a deceptive claim do not remove
liabilities.
23rd March `09
Truth telling
The term refers to “not lying” and “not misleading”
anyone.
One can mislead even without lying, by just
withholding relevant information.
An example of that would be ads of OTC medicines
that never talk of its side effects – the ad for Crocin, a
popular analgesic, doesn't talk of the liver damage that
paracetamol can cause when used regularly. It only
talks about the relief from pain/fever etc.
23rd March `09
More…
The question of truth telling also arises when
they make models wear doctors’ coats and
vouch for the quality of a product.
This kind of portrayal amounts to lying. So it
must be wrong?
The counter argument in favor of puffery would
appeal to the “reasonability” of the human mind,
making this an endless discussion.
23rd March `09
regulations
In the U.S – the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act
lays down guidelines for responsible advertising.
There are regulations against deception, under
which deceptive ads maybe sued.
In U.K – the Consumer Protection from Unfair
Trading Regulation and the Business Protection
from Misleading Marketing Regulation were framed
23rd March `09
More…
in consonance with a directive issued by the
European union.
In India – there was no codified law regulating ads
until recently , but Rule 7(4) of the Cable
television network rules, 1994, stated that the
goods and services advertised shall not suffer
from any defect as mentioned in the consumer
protection act 1986
23rd March `09
More
36(A) – of the monopolies and restrictive trade
practices act, 1969, gives an exhaustive
definition of the term unfair trade practice which
includes false representation of products.
More recently, a body called ASCI – Advertising
Standards Council of India has been set up to
regulate ad content and deal with cases of
puffery and deception.
23rd March `09
23rd March `09
Questions please...