Advertising Regulations

May 26, 2015
Advertising Regulations

In the article that I read it was talking about the federal trade commission and how they are enforcing the truth in advertising laws. The FTC is forcing everyone that advertises on the internet, radio, billboards, etc, they have to make sure that it is legitimate and truthful. They cannot advertise anything that is untrue or unfair that would involve ripping consumers off of their hard earned money. Advertising plays an essential and big part in all market economies. It stimulates growth and innovation, encourages competition and increases consumer choice. It is a swift and efficient means of making consumers aware of product innovations and keeping them informed of the range, nature and quality of the products available to them. Advertising is an important element in maintaining or increasing market share and vital to the introduction of a new product or the improvement of an existing one. For example, a product campaign can now use data on website browsing behavior to identify the subset of consumers who are likely to respond to an ad. This large-scale collection of data has also heightened consumers’ concerns about their privacy. As a result, governments around the world are considering new privacy regulations designed to restrict the collection and use of customer data by firms. Nowadays, advertising is a very big business. Very often, it is the major means of competing among firms. Furthermore, supporters of advertising claim that it brings specific benefits for consumers. Most consumers are looking to find products at a cheaper price. If you don't know where to look, that means doing your research to see where to go. Watching television, reading billboards, listening to the radio or even walking inside stores to compare prices. However, when shopping online the one time you make a purchase, you forever get emails wanting you to try this or buy this. On an article I read they had something called CAN-SPAM Act. The CAN-SPAM Act establishes requirements for those who send unsolicited commercial email. The Act bans false or misleading header information and prohibits deceptive subject lines. It's not just credit card data and social security numbers that consumers are worried about. There are forms of data marketers used regularly to segment and target consumer audiences. This is considered "very sensitive," including location data. Laws protecting consumers vary in the remedies they provide to consumers for violations. Many federal laws merely provide for public agencies to enforce consumer regulations by investigating and resolving consumer complaints. For example, in the case of a false advertisement, a common remedy is the FTC who ordered removal of the offensive advertisements from the media
In the next article they were talking about the competitive advertising market in Brazil. The Brazilian market has increase 31% from 2010 to 2013. Their laws are a lot stricter when it comes to advertising.
''Basically, the advertisement industry in Brazil is regulated by:
The Consumer Defense Code (Código de Defesa do Consumidor, known as CDC)
Specific Laws
CONAR (Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária)'' I did not realize until reading this article that countries overseas have the same issue with advertising regulations, however, they're cracking down on their laws a lot tighter than the US.
The goal of consumer protection laws is to place consumers, who are average citizens engaging in business deals such as buying goods or borrowing money, on an even par with companies or citizens who regularly engage in business. What I have learned from reading these articles is that when you’re shopping, no matter where you should always pay attention to the rules governing your personal information. You also want to make sure that none of your personal information is given to third parties. Third parties pay firms to get emails of different people so they can send out information through emails or by regular mail. I feel it is bogus for them to be able to have access to our information. Where is the FTC when it comes to our privacy laws?

Reference

http://www.hg.org/article.asp?id=31217 http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/regulation-of-the-brazilian-advertisement-industry