PUFFERY, DECEPTION & TRUTH TELLING
Presented by,
Vishwanath & Kavitha
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.
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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.
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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 advertising).
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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.
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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.
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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
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Examples of puffery
Unlike what has been shown in the ad, bears don’t drink Coke.
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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.
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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
considered.
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as
promised.
Anecdotal
evidence
is
not
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Misleading Marketing Regulation were framed
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from
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
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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.
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Questions please...
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