Research Task #5 – Case of False Advertising

To the CEO and Marketing Department

Following the recent proposed advertisement for bubble gum titled, “Gum so good you’ll fly with the clouds,” there are elements that can be identified to be false advertising as they will mislead the customers. According to Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-2203 “A person commits false advertising if, in connection with the promotion of the sale of property or services, such person recklessly causes to be made or makes a false or misleading statement in any advertisement.” Based on this statute, false advertising is a class 1 misdemeanor and may lead to imprisonment. Besides, Arizona Revised Statutes § 44-1522 makes it unlawful to be involved in false advertising. The statute states that false advertisement is an unlawful practice in that, “The act, use or employment by any person of any deception, deceptive or unfair act or practice, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely on such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise whether or not any person has in fact been misled, deceived or damaged thereby, is declared to be an unlawful practice.” Based on these laws, misleading the customers though advertisement is illegal especially if it will result to harm.

However, under the puffery laws, the bubble gum advertisement is legal as it assumes that the consumers will recognize that the exaggerations made in the advert merely as opinions that cannot be verified. According to the Federal Trade Commission, puffery refers to the exaggerations of the quality of a product, and this is the case for the company’s product. A company cannot be held liable for misrepresentation if they issue a statement that amounts to mere puffing, as puffery cannot be considered to create an express guarantee or warranty for the product. Based on this, I wish to advise the company to continue with the planed advertisement as it will be considered immaterial and unreliable to fly by chewing a bubble gum, and thus, and thus it cannot form the basis for liability.