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Essay Subject: This paper discusses puffing or puffery in advertising and the issue of consumers receiving ...... More...

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Paper Abstract: This paper discusses puffing, or puffery, in advertising (exaggerated advertising), and the issue of consumers receiving unsolicited merchandise. Also discusses the outlandish claims advertisers make. Paper Introduction: Puffing Puffing or puffery is defined as an exaggerated advertising bluster and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely and is notactionable Horwitz It describes what can be referred to as salesjargon claims used by merchants to convince a prospective buyer to buytheir products by puffing up their apparent value Puffery Of course some would argue that most advertising consists of puffing and to some extent this is true However it is important to make thedistinction that puffing is so exaggerated Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Corrective advertising is defined as "Advertisements or messageswithin advertisements, that the Federal Trade Commission orders a companyto run, for the purpose of correcting consumers' mistaken impressionscreated by prior advertising" ("Corrective Advertising"). Thegovernment might also be concerned about such products containing toxicsubstances, electronic "bugs," or other types of components that could beharmful or invasive of people's privacy. As one writer puts it, "Even the motherof hydrogenation, Crisco, now offers Crisco Zero Trans Fat Shortening"(Raymond). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery"Puffery." Wikipedia. The only situations in which therecipient would be obligated to return the product would be if he receivedit in error due to its being misdirected ("Illinois Compiled Statutes"), inwhich case it would actually belong to someone else-the intended recipient,or if the recipient did order the item but forgot about it, in which casehe is responsible for returning or paying for it. "Legal Clearance of Advertising Claims." FindLaw web site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery"Receipt of Unsolicited Merchandise." U.S. "Insufficient FDA Resources: Leveling the Playing Field and Reducing Fraud by Altering Incentives." http://leda.law.harvard.edu/leda/data/372/McFarland.pdfRaymond, Joan. The corrective advertising remedy is notintended to punish the company but to inform consumers about the true worthof a particular product. However, on the other hand, consumers who buy products under falsepretenses can actually be harmed by the deception. Of course, some would argue that most advertising consists of puffing,and to some extent this is true. If such unsolicited goods are either addressed to or intended for the recipient, they shall be deemed a gift to the recipient, who may use them or dispose of them in any manner without any obligation to the sender ("Illinois Compiled Statutes").Likewise, Title 39, United States Code, Section 3 9 of the PostalReorganization Act of 197 "makes the mailing of unordered merchandiseunfair methods of competition and unfair trade practices under the law"("Receipt of Unsolicited Merchandise"). The federal government might wish to make no exceptions to the rulefreeing consumers of any liability for failing to return unsolicitedmerchandise because any exceptions would open the door for marketingcampaigns predicated on sending people products that they would then berequired to pay for even though the products were unsolicited. For another, it is negativeadvertising, i.e., it is more likely to turn consumers away from buying theproduct than to entice them to buy. Postal Inspection Service. Themanufacturer will send the merchandise without being asked, then send aninvoice for it, in the hope that the consumer will find it easier to justpay for the merchandise than go to the trouble of trying to straighten thesituation out or repackage the product and ship it back. Corrective advertising also revealsthings about the product that the company would rather not have the publicknow. Correctiveadvertising is not an excessively harsh remedy for dealing with pastdeceptive advertising campaigns. But you know better. Works Cited"About Crisco." http://www.crisco.com/about/ _grams.asp"Corrective Advertising." About.com web site. 1. Buying a medicationthat is touted as safe but that can have harmful or fatal side effects-which most medications can-can cause a consumer's death, or the death of aloved one. Since many consumers watch television but not allconsumers read trade or consumer-oriented magazines, corrective advertisingis simply the best way to inform the most consumers about the corrections.Naturally, companies that engage in deceptive advertising have a number ofreasons that they would prefer not to run an ad on nationwide TV statingthat they misrepresented their product. However, should either a consumer or a competitor happen tochallenge the statement by bringing suit, the advertiser would be forced toeither prove that the claim is true or defend it as puffery. "'Puffery' in Advertising." http://www.mises.org/freemarket_detail.asp?control=228&Forristal, Linda Joyce. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that all erroneousimpressions about a product be corrected, and that the correction reach asmany people as possible. Because two-year-olds make no spending decisions, advertisers have always been free to enliven their ads with harmless hyperbole (Boudreaux). Now, however, Crisco has come out with a new version of itsproduct that has " grams trans fat per serving"-at least, this is what thecompany claims ("About Crisco"). As the Unsolicited Merchandise Act states, the product can legally beconsidered a gift: Sec. http://library.findlaw.com/2 3/Mar/7/132625.htmlMcFarland, Luke. One ploy to coerce consumers into purchasing products is to send themunsolicited merchandise to get them to purchase the products. However, it is important to make thedistinction that puffing is so exaggerated that no one takes it seriously;an actual misstatement of fact that people do find believable is notpuffing-it is fraud. "Don't Be Fooled by Trans Fat-Free Labels." http://www.advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11211&story=44 5Boudreaux, Donald J. Puffing makes outlandish claims that no one takesseriously, such as "the best pipe tobacco in the world." Since no one canprove this claim, it is considered puffing. "The Rise and Fall of Crisco." http://www.motherlindas.com/crisco.htmHorwitz, Ethan. This type ofadvertising is neither puffery nor actual fraud, although it skates on theedge of the latter. One of the mostcompelling is the revelation that cotton farmers spray a defoliant oncotton plants just before harvest to make harvesting easier; this spray hasbeen linked with-at a minimum-stomach upsets (Forristal). However, if the ad stated that"Four out of five Americans watch this show on Monday nights," that is aclaim that could be either substantiated or disproved by the Neilsenratings ("Inside TV Ratings"); if the ratings failed to substantiate theclaim, the advertiser would lose the case in court. However, other forms of dishonest advertising that are factual butmisleading can persuade consumers to purchase products under falsepretenses, sometimes causing them illness or injury. For one thing, this destroys thetrust the public has in their brand. Many consumers switched to Crisco believing it was a healthier alternative(Barnard). On the other hand, new issues have been raised about the safetyof Crisco, which is made of hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Your two-year old might believe that polar bears enjoy sipping Coca-Cola. An example is the claim made by the makers of Criscoshortening that it contains "zero cholesterol." While this is true, it isextremely misleading, because although Crisco contains no cholesterol, itconsists of 1 % fat, and hydrogenated fat at that, also known as "transfat," which is many times more damaging to the body (McFarland; "Tips toSpot Hydrogenated Fat/Trans Fat in Foods"). http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/l/bldefcorrectadv.htm"Illinois Compiled Statutes." http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/search?invocationType=topsearchbox.search& query=returning+unsolicited+merchandise"Inside TV Ratings." Neilsen Media Research. It describes what can be referred to as "salesjargon"-claims used by merchants to convince a prospective buyer to buytheir products by "puffing up" their apparent value ("Puffery"). Legally, however,the recipient is not legally obligated to return the product or pay for it. Crisco, however, used the claimof "zero cholesterol" to make Crisco sound like a health food. http://www.umm.edu/features/tips.htmlBarnard, Stephanie. Puffery is generally regarded as innocuous, since consumers do notregard it as true and do not rely on it for making purchase choices: "Puffery" consists of promotional claims that no one out of diapers takes literally. Whileconsumers knew no better, the manufacturers succeeded with this deception. When advertisers want to engage in aggressive marketing campaigns,they may be willing to make what are arguably false statements of fact, inthe hope that consumers either would not know better or would not care tofind out. Unless otherwise agreed, where unsolicited goods are delivered to a person, he has a right to refuse to accept delivery of the goods and is not bound to return such goods to the sender. "An Update on Trans Fats." http://www.health.com/health/article/ ,23414,1136647, .html http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/merch.htm"Tips to Spot Hydrogenated Fat/Trans Fat in Foods." University of Maryland Medical Center. Puffing "Puffing" or "puffery" is defined as "an exaggerated advertising,bluster and boasting upon which no reasonable buyer would rely and is notactionable" (Horwitz). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.