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Law Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [false-advertising]

This tag shall be used on questions related to (actual or suspected) false advertising and on questions about corresponding laws.

False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or services. A false advertisement can be classified as deceptive if the advertiser deliberately misleads the consumer, rather than making an unintentional mistake. A number of governments use regulations to limit false advertising. (From Wikipedia)

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Service refuses to accept cash; is this misleading "convenience fee" legal?

A service advertises a price of $12. When the customer tries to pay, the service provider adds a $2.50 convenience fee for using a debit or credit card and refuses to take any other form of payment. The $12 price was posted, as was the convenience…
nuggethead
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Is customer entitled to the same car tested in the test drive or in the ad?

I know someone who went to purchase a brand new car from a dealer in the US. The customer came in with an internet ad and asked to test drive the car listed. After the test drive, she paid for it. But when she returned outside, and got in the new…
Village
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Is it legal to describe something exactly as "cheese" without asterisks or other qualification if it doesn't contain any dairy?

Is the marketing statement "our cheese is made of 100% plant ingredients" false advertising and is it legal?
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Is it false advertising to call a closed-source program "open"?

IIRC, a court recently ruled that calling closed-source software "open-source" in marketing is false advertising. Does this apply to "open" on its own? For example, is the name of OpenVMS false advertising? My first thought when I saw the name was…
Someone
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Is it legal to use fake photos in advertising?

When browsing for an image of Marrakesh I came across a picture which search engines and AI could not specifically identify. Google Lens turned up many Morocco tour operators who are using the picture, but without a specific location. I posted the…
Weather Vane
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Prices across regions with different tax

Where I am from all prices advertise must be the price you pay. What you see is what you pay. This means that taxes, fees and anything else must be included in the advertised price. This is regardless of the price is advertised in a physical store,…
JenserCube
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Is it false advertising if an ad lies about the presentation of the ad but not about the product/service itself?

I have seen several ads whose premise is bringing regular people off the street and filming their reactions to a product or deal. Often these ads will claim that "these are real reactions from regular people, not actors." Suppose such an ad lied…
T Hummus
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Does the word "proceeds" in corporate promises to charity have a specific meaning?

It's common to see companies say that "all proceeds" from selling something, or from admission, will go to charity. What's not clear to me is whether that's all the revenue, or all of the pre-tax price and they're just saying proceeds to be clear…
Kate Gregory
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Bait and switch - written vs oral obligation

A company is advertising a sale stating that I will receive a discount site wide for 50% off. A hyperlink to the sale clearly shows the sale applies to all available products, further in each one of those products available durations (ex. 1,3 and…
Theory of Strings
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Is it false advertising if a business claims to provide a service that they do not actually provide?

Shoppers Drug Mart is a chain of drugstores in Canada. On their website (archived) they claim to offer the service of taking passport photographs of infants. Hypothetical: I go to a branch near me and they say they do not provide this service. Would…
Ben Williams
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What are the legal issues when using copyrighted images to advertise a product that doesn't contain them?

I was on YouTube a couple of days ago watching a video that looked at mobile game advertisements and whether or not they were reflective of the product. To give an example, one game used online ads of supposed game footage with some of the…
anon
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Is there federal liability for broadcasting a false advertisement

In the USA is there federal liability to a broadcaster if that broadcaster transmits an advertisement that makes a false commercial claim? For the scenario that I am thinking about, the advertiser has no knowledge that the claim is false and is not…
Joel
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Is Google's claim of never targeting ads from gmail false advertising?

Google claims here: that We strictly uphold responsible data practices designed to respect your privacy. That’s why we never use the content you create and store in apps like Drive, Gmail, and Photos for any ads purposes. However, as recently as…
nellapizza
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Are unmatched asterisks allowed in ads?

I received a flyer which advertises a "free" service trial. The word "free" appears three times overall and each time it has an asterisk, but neither on the front nor on the back is there an explanation for what the asterisk means. Until now I have…
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Easily pickable locks - false advertising to negligence?

How do lock manufacturers (padlocks, deadbolts, etc) get away with advertising that their locks are high security or even unpickable, when those locks can be picked open in seconds? Isnt this false advertising? I find it impossible to believe that…
Keltari
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