Does Advertising Tell The Truth?

Advertising is the creation of awareness of new products in order to induce and influence purchase.

Advertising as it is used in our modern business today must have consumer confidence if it is to perform the communication function effectively.

According to international agreement, four regulations are stIpulated to control advertising.

Advertising as a whole must not create a misleading impression even though every statement separately considered is literally truthful.

Advertising must not obscure or conceal material facts.

Advertising must not be artfully contrived to distract and divert readers' attention from the true nature of the terms and conditions of an offer.

Advertising must be free of fraudulent traps and stratagem which would induce action that would not result from a forthright disclosure of the true nature of the offer.

Any untruth in advertising does a disservice to honest advertisers who want only to communicate to the masses certain truthful benefits of their products.

The vigilance of government, businesses, and the wariness of consumers, helps to regulate advertising.

Photo by Jo San Diego on Unsplash

FALSE ADVERTISING

False or misleading advertising is the use OF false or untruth statement in advertising. It could be anything that misrepresents the nature, characteristics , qualities or geographic origin of goods, services or commercial activities.

As advertising has through potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising.

Truth refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.

False advertising, in the most blatant of contexts, is illegal in most countries. However, advertisers still find ways to deceive consumers in ways that are legal, or technically illegal but unenforceable.