Advertisements Case

Find three advertisements that that are examples of either deception or puffery. How difficult is it to differentiate between two? When does an ad cease to be puffery and become deceptive?

In order to create a memorable commercial that attracts thousands of viewer companies utilize different techniques such as puffery and false statements. Although the definition of puffery is defined by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as a "term frequently used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as to the degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot be precisely determined" there are some confusions in a process of differentiating between these two advertising methods. Puffery is legal, when deception can bring a legal action against the company. False advertising is incorrect and deceptive, and cannot be reasonably relied on while making a purchasing decision. Puffery, on the other side, is a legal way of promoting a product through statements that can be easily verified. Below are presented some examples of both techniques.

Examples of Puffery

Puffery is subjective, which means that companies can use various statements in their advertising that impossible to prove. For instance, claim that a company`s product is the best in the world might be exaggerated, but no one can prove it otherwise. However, if the advertiser claims that his/her product contains special ingredients that cure diseases such as ulcer or Crohn`s disease it becomes a false claim.

1. Colgate

In most Colgate commercials company puts a line "recommended by dentists". Sometimes an advertising character claims that this particular toothpaste is recommended by his/her dentist, which cannot really be proven. In fact, some dental clinics provide their patients with free samples of Colgate toothpaste and floss, but it does not mean that whoever participates in commercial prefers Colgate over other toothpastes and regularly uses it because of dentist`s recommendations.

2. Panera Bread

Panera Bread takes pride in delivering high quality products to its consumers. Panera Bread official website claims that the company bakes the best bread, makes the best sandwiches and best salads. The world "best" is normally identified as a part of puffery advertising. The statement cannot be proven fact or false. Some consumers prefer Panera Bread to other fast food chain restaurant and believe that there is nothing better than their products, when others choose different places to dine out.

The statement above "Secrets to the best turkey taste" is one of the examples of puffery advertising the company applies in an advertising campaign.

3. Smirnoff

Similarly to Panera Bread vodka Smirnoff claims that