What are ‘false’ and ‘misleading’ advertisements? The law states that "no enterprise shall make or use false or misleading representations or symbol as to price, quantity, quality, content, production date, valid period, method of use, purpose of use, place of origin, manufacturer, place of manufacturing, processor, or place of processing on goods or in advertisements, or in any other way making known to the public." The term "false" means any representation or symbol that is inconsistent with facts, and where the deviation would be unacceptable to a significant number of the general or relevant public, and would lead to misunderstanding or incorrect decisions. The term "misleading" means any representation or symbol that would cause a significant …show more content…
Vance Packard, one of the most vehementcritics of advertising, has rightly pointed out themanipulative and misleading effects ofadvertising: Large-scale efforts are being made, oftenwith an impressive success, to channel thebuyer's thought processes and purchasingdecision by the use of insights gleanedfrom psychometrics and social sciences,with the result that many of us are beinginfluenced and manipulated farmore thanwe realize, in the patterns of our everyday lives. Objective of Legal Control The objective of regulating misleading advertising is to ensure that advertisements do not distort the facts about the product and mislead the buyer through subtle implications, omissions, and false statements about the quality, quantity, features or other characteristics of the product or any service accompanying the product, e.g. repair and …show more content…
• Offering of bargain prices or pseudo discounts. • Conducting of pseudo sales promotion contests. False Claims and Misleading Advertising As provided under Section 36A (1) of the MRTPAct, the following statements, whether madeorally or in writing or by visible representation,would amount to an unfair trade practice: • Falsely representing thatthegoods areofaparticularstandard,quality,quantitygrade,composition,style or model. • Falsely representing that the services are ofa particular standard, quality or grade. • Falsely representing any re-built, secondhand, renovated, reconditioned or old goodsas new goods. • Representing that the goods or services havesponsorship, approval, performance characteristics, accessories, uses or benefits, whichsuch goods or services do not have. • Representing that the seller or supplier hasa sponsorship, approval or affiliation whichhe does not have. • Making a false or misleading representationabout the need or usefulness of any good orservice. • Giving any warranty or guarantee about theperformance, efficacy or length of life of aproduct that is not based on an adequate