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Advertising and the Consumer

Advertising is everywhere. Each day, American consumers are bombarded by ads on radio and television, in newspapers and magazines, on billboards and bus shelters, even on blimps in the air and benches in the park.

The United States has always been a commercial society; but in recent years advertising has become more widespread. In 1992, over $130 billion was spent on advertising in the mass media, and this doesn't include non-mass-media advertising like direct mail ads. Advertising has also become more persistent and in­trusive. As a result, people sometimes try to avoid advertising by flipping the channel during TV commercials or tossing unopened junk mail into the trash can.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects advertising as an expression of free speech. However; courts have ruled that government may regulate and even prohibit certain types of advertising. One of the most controversial types of advertising involves tobacco. Tobacco advertising is controversial because smoking is the nation's leading preventable cause of death. More people die from smoking each year than from AIDS, accidents, fires, homicides, suicides, and drunk driving combined. As a result, there have been efforts to eliminate or restrict tobacco advertising. In 1972, tobacco advertising was prohibited on radio and television, but it is still allowed in magazines, in newspapers, and on billboards and other forms of outdoor advertising. Tobacco ads on billboards are particularly controversial. Unlike newspapers and magazines, which can be ignored or thrown away, billboards make the American public a " captive audience" to huge, intrusive ads that can't be voided. What's more, numerous studies have shown that more billboards are located in neighborhoods where poor people live than elsewhere.

Advertising can, of course, be beneficial. For ex­ample, merchants use advertising to tell potential customers about their products. Ads can also help consumers by telling them about new goods and services, and by providing other useful information. Although ads can be helpful, they can also mislead, deceive, and confuse.

Ads sometimes mislead consumers through vague claims or, in a few cases, outright lies. Other times, ads try to create a desire for products that consumers don't really need or want. Many ads appeal to emotion rather than provide the kind of factual information needed to make a wise buying decision.

The federal and state governments have laws that prohibit false or deceptive advertising. However, these laws are difficult to enforce, and deception can take many forms.

When the public is widely exposed to a misleading ad, the FTC can order the seller to stop the false advertising. It can also order corrective advertising. This means that the advertiser must admit the deception in all future ads for a specified period of time. For example, a well-known mouthwash company advertised that its product cured sore throats and colds. When an investigation proved this claim false, the FTC ordered that all new ads state that the previous claims were untrue.

Although, as a general rule, false or misleading ads are illegal, one type of ad is an exception to this rule. Ads based on the seller's opinion, personal taste, or obvious exaggeration are called puffing. While perhaps not literally true, ads that puff are not illegal. For example, a used car dealer that advertises the " World's Best Used Cars" is engaged in puffing. A reasonable person should know better than to rely on the truthfulness of such a statement. Similarly, announcing a sale at a furniture store, an ad reads: " 2, 750 items of furniture have to disappear tonight." This ad is not literally true; but again, a reasonable consumer should understand that it is just “seller's talk."

In contrast, consider an ad that reads: " Giant Sale Top-Quality CD Players, formerly $300, now just $225." If the compact disc players were never sold at $300 and could have been purchased anytime for $225, this ad is illegal. It misleads consumers about an important fact concerning the product. The ad is not puffing, because it is not based on the seller's opinion, personal taste, or obvious exaggeration.

The difference between illegal advertising and puffing may be small, so consumers should be on guard. If an ad tends to mislead about an important fact concerning the product, it is illegal; but if the ad is merely an exaggeration or a nonspecific opinion, it is probably puffing and legal.

1. Answer the questions:

1. Why has advertising become more widespread in recent years?

2. What is non-mass-media advertising?

3. Do you sometimes try to avoid advertising? How?

4. Do you agree that " advertising is an expression of free speech"? Why? Why not?

5. How is tobacco advertising controversial? Is it legal in Ukraine? Are there any restrictions?

6. Give examples of beneficial advertising.

7. How can ads mislead consumers?

8. Do we have any laws that prohibit false or deceptive advertising in Ukraine?

9. What is the difference between illegal advertising and puffing? Give your examples.