The Effects of False Advertising
Final Draft: The Effects of False Advertising
Since the evolution of communication, media has been used to transmit informations to those willing to absorb it. Now, using powerful technologies such as television or the internet, information has been made accessible to people in every aspect of our daily lives, trying now to influence our choices more than ever before through advertisement. However, for the most, the goal behind advertising is personal profit. Therefore, the things we are exposed to in advertisements are not always true; they often tend to make people try being someone else's idea of perfection while ignoring their own goals, and then conduct the consumers to deception. As for anything else, regulations on advertising do exist and are set by the Federal Trade Commission. But still, the problem of deceptive advertising does exist and is very persistent. My goal is to discuss the problem of deceptive advertising, by analyzing the strengths and the weaknesses of the FTC policies on advertising, the causes and effects of the problem and finally propose eventual solutions. Part I According to its official web site, ftc.gov, ”The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy,” (“About the Federal Trade Commission”) advertising included. As any institution of this scale, the FTC has very strong policies regarding the field it deals with. And acts such as false advertising can be heavily punished by the law, according to the FTC’s many laws and acts. However, regardless the numerous regulations that make the FTC’s strengths, it possesses a major weakness, since as far as the commission punishes unfair methods in advertising, and it fails to clearly define the word “unfair”. William F. Brown says in his article that the term “unfair methods” remains a generalization that the FTC must translate into usable
Since the evolution of communication, media has been used to transmit informations to those willing to absorb it. Now, using powerful technologies such as television or the internet, information has been made accessible to people in every aspect of our daily lives, trying now to influence our choices more than ever before through advertisement. However, for the most, the goal behind advertising is personal profit. Therefore, the things we are exposed to in advertisements are not always true; they often tend to make people try being someone else's idea of perfection while ignoring their own goals, and then conduct the consumers to deception. As for anything else, regulations on advertising do exist and are set by the Federal Trade Commission. But still, the problem of deceptive advertising does exist and is very persistent. My goal is to discuss the problem of deceptive advertising, by analyzing the strengths and the weaknesses of the FTC policies on advertising, the causes and effects of the problem and finally propose eventual solutions. Part I According to its official web site, ftc.gov, ”The FTC deals with issues that touch the economic life of every American. It is the only federal agency with both consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy,” (“About the Federal Trade Commission”) advertising included. As any institution of this scale, the FTC has very strong policies regarding the field it deals with. And acts such as false advertising can be heavily punished by the law, according to the FTC’s many laws and acts. However, regardless the numerous regulations that make the FTC’s strengths, it possesses a major weakness, since as far as the commission punishes unfair methods in advertising, and it fails to clearly define the word “unfair”. William F. Brown says in his article that the term “unfair methods” remains a generalization that the FTC must translate into usable
Cited: “About the Federal Trade Commission.” Federal Trade Commission June 17, 2010 Ftc.gov April 18 2011. Electronic. Brown, William F. “The Federal Trade Commission and False Advertising II” The Journal of Marketing (1 July1947): 38-46. April 18, 2011. Print. Cawley, John, Rosemary Avery, and Matthew Eisenberg. “The Effects of Advertising and Deceptive Advertising on Consumption.” Economics Seminar Papers (30 July 2010): 3-11. Electronic. Mialon, Hugo M. and Paul H. Rubin. Economics, Law, and Individual Rights. 2008 New York: Taylor & Francis Routledge, 2008. Electronic. “Money Spent on Weight Loss Programs in The USA Today.” Worldometers Information 2009. Worldometers.info April 18 2011. Electronic. Mundy, Alicia. “Weight-loss Wars.” U.S. News & World Report 15 February 1999, Vol. 126, Issue 6: 42. April 18, 2011. Electronic. Shabbir, Haseeb and Des Thwaites. “The Use of Humor to Mask Deceptive Advertising.” Journal of Advertising Summer 2007, Vol. 36 Issue 2: 75-85. April 18, 2011. Electronic. “What Is False Advertising?” Astra, Chan, Gurst, and Thomas P.C 2006, Aboutfalseadvertising.com. April 18, 2011. Electronic.