Advertising Puffery

Who knew “puffery” was a legal advertising term!

Advertising Claims

In the United States, advertising cannot be false or misleading. False claims in advertising is one of the main reason companies get “busted” for their advertising. They say stuff that isn’t true, or is borderline but they can’t back it up.

Advertising claims are statements that are specifc, capable of measurement, and stated as fact. The potential buyer is likely to consider those claims when deciding to buy. If you make advertising claims, you need to have a reasonable basis for doing so and some sort of proof to back up the claims. The more specific the claim, the more explicit the proof should be.

For example, “4 out of 5 doctors prefer ___ product.” In order for that to be true (and therefore not false or misleading) the company would need to have some documentation that a survey of some kind was done, there were enough responses to make a generalized statement about “doctors” AND the numbers prove it was 4 out of 5.

Some common advertising claims you may have seen:

• “Wider coverage area than all other carriers”
• “Download speed of ___”
• “2 million sold in the last year.”
• “Gets ___mpg”

Sometimes you’ll see outright claims on the front of a package and then clarifications or qualifiers in footnotes or on the back of the package.

Puffery

Puffery, on the other hand, are generalized statements usually based on opinion and that can’t be easily measured. They are so subjective that no consumer expects them to be truthful and doesn’t use them to make their purchasing decision.

Some common statements that are pure puffery:

• “The best ___ in the world”
• “No one can make a better ___”
• “Loved the world over”
• “Nobody doesn’t like ___”
• “The perfect ___”
• “You’ll love the ____ of it” (color, scent, feel, etc)
• “Ultimate luxury”

Soap and Cosmetics

Soap and cosmetics are already subject to limitations on the claims that can be made in order to stay legal. A cosmetic “beautifies, improves attractiveness, alters the appearance, or cleanses” – that’s all it can do!

Most of the advertising claims we want to make concern what the product can do (heal, treat, etc.) — and those are already outside what is allowed. If you want to make other measurable claims about your products, you need to have some kind of proof.

On the other hand, a large portion of advertising for soap and cosmetics is puffery, and there the opportunities are open and endless.

For over the top puffery, this old Calgon commercial is hard to beat: