false advertising essay

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The Ethics of False Advertising

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Melissa Pacifico , University at Albany, State University of New York Follow Kaylie Johnson , University at Albany, State University of New York Follow Phillip O'Meara , University at Albany, State University of New York Follow

The Press: Freedom, Bias, Ethics II

Lecture Center 22

3-5-2019 3:15 PM

3-5-2019 4:15 PM

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

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Business, Communication

False advertisement, the use of misleading and untrue information to push a consumer product, is an unethical marketing ploy that has tricked consumers since the beginning of the consumer business industry. With the modern emergence of social media, consumers are now vulnerable than ever to falling victim to these unethical deceptive representations. The ‘Fyre Festival’ documentaries that recently premiered on both Netflix and Hulu are a perfect example of modern day false advertising mixed with the use of unethical social media influencer advertising. In this research project we aim to uncover the significance of unethical advertising and research the results of both ethical and unethical advertising through the examination of four major companies who have been accused of using this tactic. The four companies we will be analyzing are Fyre, Groupon, Hydroxycut, and Redbull, since they are some of the well-known false advertising cases in the United States over the past few years. The goal of our research is to discover whether or not society falls for false advertising and how influencers and companies utilize unethical marketing to lure in consumers or followers. We will focus on four instances of false advertising and will understand how consumers were tricked into spending their money on a certain product, or going on a trip. We will analyze the marketing methods and tactics from each company and examine the trends that we find. We will be looking in depth at each lawsuit and analyze the results of both ethical and unethical advertising.

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Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences Essay

It is true that many reasonable individuals, if not all, have fallen victim to one form of deceptive advertising as they go about purchasing products and services and with no prior knowledge that they could indeed be buying into a well orchestrated trap of deception. In most instances, those who perpetrate this vice have full knowledge that deceptive advertising is prohibited by federal laws and could in fact lead to costly legal suits when unearthed. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is entrusted with the responsibility of protecting consumers from such fraud and deception (Cross & Miller, 2009). However, as it will be demonstrated by the following real life accounts, most deceptive advertising go unnoticed due to a myriad of constraints facing the FTC, including inadequate funding, perceived lack of political will, and new and more complex techniques used by companies to perpetrate the vice.

The FTC finds an advertising deceptive “…if first, there is a representation, omission or practice that, second, is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances, and third, the representation, omission, or practice is material” (Richards, 1990, p. 106). However, real life accounts demonstrate that this definition is flouted on daily basis by greedy companies and service providers operating in the U.S. and abroad. For example, U.S. consumers are often bombarded by various beauty products and accessories that claim to have been endorsed by a general practitioner, a health association, or a renowned beauty therapist (Siegel, 2008). These advertisements main aim is to appeal to the consumers to buy more of such products by creating factually untrue and potentially misleading representation that the products are indeed 100 percent safe. As such, the companies enhance their sales revenues at the expense of the health of unsuspecting consumers as many who have used these products achieve outcomes that are different from what would normally be expected if they had reasonable knowledge before purchasing the beauty products. Companies need to realize that they expose themselves to hefty legal penalties under the U.S. federal laws by engaging in such practices (Cross & Miller, 2009), not mentioning that they risk losing their reputation.

Recently, Zynga – a game development company – was enjoined with Facebook in a legal suit that sought “…roughly $5 million in damages for their use of false and misleading special offers which have helped generate enormous profits” (Chalk, 2009, para. 1). It was claimed by one consumer that the advertisements promise participants free in-game money or items only to end up experiencing high charges either through premium cellphone subscription services or unrequested mail order items. Consumers were enticed by the promised hefty offers to take part in the games, but they were not told that there will be some charges applied to their accounts (Chalk, 2009). To borrow from theoretical frameworks, such deception is characteristically implied rather than explicitly stated , leaving consumers with a set of symbols which is vulnerable to two or more interpretations and one interpretation is inherently false (Cross & Miller, 2009; Siegel, 2008). A textual analysis of such type of advertising will definitely reveal that the inaccuracy is material and intended to deceive a reasonable consumer. Again, this is wrong under the U.S. federal laws as it amounts to advertising deception.

Lastly, we have been bombarded by instances of health drinks promotions that promise to give consumers the body and shape of popular movie and TV celebrities. Many consumers have drunk immeasurable quantities of these drinks, but the have only reaped extra body mass and frustration by not achieving the physique demonstrated by the pictures in the advertisement. While it is hard to categorize such advertizing as deceptive mainly due to the conceptual challenges of what constitutes deception (Cross & Miller), it is clear that these images are included in the advertisement to influence the consumers purchasing decisions, not mentioning that some of these images may in fact deceive a reasonable consumer. Consequently, the operating framework of the FTC needs to be strengthened in an attempt to prevent deceptions hidden in imagery and other unfair business practices.

Reference List

Chalk, A. (2009). Zynga sued over deceptive advertising. Web.

Cross, F.B., & Miller, R.L. (2009). The legal environment of business: Text and cases – ethical, regulatory, global, and e-commerce issues, 7 th Ed. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning

Richards, J.L. (1990). Deceptive advertising: Behavioral study of a legal concept . Hillsdale, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc

Siegel, P. (2008). Communication law in America . Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc

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IvyPanda. (2022, March 31). Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deceptive-advertising-discussion-of-real-experiences/

"Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences." IvyPanda , 31 Mar. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/deceptive-advertising-discussion-of-real-experiences/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences'. 31 March.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences." March 31, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deceptive-advertising-discussion-of-real-experiences/.

1. IvyPanda . "Deceptive Advertising: Discussion of Real Experiences." March 31, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/deceptive-advertising-discussion-of-real-experiences/.

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Back to Faculty Bibliography

Michael A. Carrier & Rebecca Tushnet, An Antitrust Framework for False Advertising , 106 Iowa L. Rev . 1841 (2021).

Abstract: Federal law presumes that false advertising harms competition. Federal law also presumes that false advertising is harmless or even helpful to competition. Contradiction is not unknown to the law, of course. This contradiction, though, is acute. For not only are both regimes at issue designed to protect competition, but they are both enforced by the same agency: the Federal Trade Commission, which targets “unfair competition” through antitrust and consumer protection enforcement. Courts’ treatment of false advertising in antitrust cases makes no sense. While courts have reasonably evidenced concern that not all false advertising violates antitrust law, the remedy is not to abandon the false advertising/antitrust interface. Instead, the solution is to focus on the actors most likely to harm the market: monopolists and attempted monopolists. This Essay proposes an antitrust framework for false advertising claims. It introduces a presumption that monopolists engaging in false advertising violate antitrust law and a rebuttal if the false advertising is ineffective. The framework also applies to attempted monopolization by incorporating factors such as falsity, materiality, and harm inherent in false advertising law, along with competition-centered issues like targeting new market entrants. Antitrust has dismissed false advertising that entrenches monopoly power for too long. This Essay seeks to resolve the contradiction in the law by showing how false advertising threatens the proper functioning of markets. Such an approach promises benefits for false advertising law, antitrust law, and consumers.

Home — Essay Samples — Religion — Sin — Logical Fallacies in Advertising: A Critical Examination

Logical Fallacies in Advertising: a Critical Examination

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 637 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

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Introduction, appeal to emotion, false dilemmas, bandwagon appeals.

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