Puffery
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Puffery as a legal term refers to promotional statements and claims that express subjective rather than objective views, such that no reasonable person would take literally. Puffery is especially featured in testimonials.
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[edit] Origin
In a legal context, the term originated in the English Court of Appeal case Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, which centred on whether a monetary reimbursement should be paid when an influenza preventative device failed to work. The manufacturers had paid for advertising stating that £100 would be paid in such circumstances, then failed to follow this promise. Part of their defence was that such a statement was "mere puff" and not meant to be taken seriously.
While the defence ultimately lost the case, the principle was confirmed that certain statements made by advertisers, that were obviously not made in a serious manner, could be exempt from usual rules relating to promises in open contracts.
[edit] Examples
For instance, a diner advertisement promoting the "world's best cup of coffee" would classify as puffery. That claim would be almost impossible to substantiate, and no reasonable consumer would take such exaggeration at face value. Puffery often uses the superlative form of a word, like "best" or "greatest".
Puffery might also exaggerate the advertised effects of a product. An example is the following Burma-Shave jingle:
We've made / Grandpa / Look so trim / The local / Draft board's after him / Burma-Shave
[edit] Where substantiation is needed
However, a company making a superlative claim such as "cheapest" or "safest" usually has to substantiate such competitive claims. Merchants must exercise extreme caution when making statements about the quality, condition, or facts about their products or services. A slight variation in wording may result in an express warranty.
[edit] Federal Trade Commission definition
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defined puffery 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." [1]
The FTC stated in 1984 that puffery does not warrant enforcement action by the Commission. In its FTC Policy Statement on Deception, the Commission stated: "The Commission generally will not pursue cases involving obviously exaggerated or puffing representations, i.e., those that the ordinary consumers do not take seriously."
[edit] Puff piece
Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery; an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary.[2]
[edit] See also
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Look up puffery or puff piece in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
[edit] References
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- Boudreaux, Donald J. (1995). "Puffery" in Advertising. Free Market, September 1995 Volume 13, Number 9.
- Preston, Ivan L. (1996). The Great American Blow-Up: Puffery in Advertising and Selling. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-15254-5
- Foulke, Judith E. (1995) Cosmetic Ingredients: Understanding the Puffery. FDA Consumer, Publication No. (FDA) 95-5013.
- Hoffman, David A. (2006). The Best Puffery Article Ever. Iowa Law Review, Vol. 91, 2006
- DeFrancis, Victor F. (2004). Remembrance of Things Pasta: Circuit Addresses PufferyPDF (111 KiB). FTC Consumer Protection Update, Fall 2004.
- Federal Trade Commission Policy Statement on Deception, 103 F.T.C. 174 (1984), appended to Cliffdale Assoc. Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110 (1984).
- ^ Better Living, Inc. et al., 54 F.T.C. 648 (1957), aff'd, 259 F.2d 271 (3rd Cir. 1958).
- ^ ""puff piece." Answers.com". The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1992. http://www.answers.com/topic/puff-piece. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
