Should Rayanair publish a corrective ad?

In one of its ads Ryanair claims that its flights from London (Stansted) to Brussels (Charleroi) are faster and cheaper than travelling by Eurostar.
Is the Ryanair’s advertising campaign misleading or just a coup?
In fact, it isn't faster to travel with the low cost company because the ad ignores time taken moving passengers between airports and city centres. Cheaper is also misleading because the costs for those journeys from airports to cities are not charged.
Eventually Ryanair’s ad was judged misleading.


Source: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=B18632753070822
Devemie Loïc

Unpleasant sanctions for the “was/now” price advertising!

The use of comparison price advertising, one of the most well-known advertising slogans, will have serious repercussions for an Australian Jeweller.
The Federal Court of Australia ordered Prouds Jewellers to undertake corrective advertising. In practical terms the Court ordered to place an A3 sized notice in every Prouds Jeweller store in Australia for at least three months, to publish corrective advertisements in some newspapers, etc...
When the copywriters use this kind of advertsing, they have to make sure that the “was” price had been used for a reasonable period immediately before the ad. If the price diminished slowly, for example from $100 to $50 to $25, it must not be advertised as “was $100, now $25”.Instead, it must be advertised as “was $50, now $25”.
The Prouds Jewellers clearly overlooked this rule.

Sources: http://hwlebsworth.ensoconsultancy.com.au/trade_practices_feb09/was_now_price_advertising.html
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/822863/fromItemId/621575
Devemie Loïc

A Way to protect us

How can the Federal Trade Commission, also known as the FTC, protect consumers from misleading ads?

Simply by ordering corrective advertising!Corrective advertising is a sanction for those who venture to publish a misleading ad.
This remedy protects consumers (from unfair and deceptive advertising practices) by giving an accurate sense of a product, so they can make right purchases.
For example a firm claiming its chocolate muffin has “50% more chocolate chips than others”.Consumers are usually not aware that the chocolate chips aren’t more numerous but just divided into smaller parts.
In such cases the FTC can require a corrective ad, telling that the muffin doesn't contain more chocolate.

Source: http://business.queensu.ca/queens_leaders_forum/index.php?letter=19&category=2&subcategory=0

Devemie Loïc

Does Google infringe trademarks with their AdWords policy?

AdWords, Google’s keyword advertising service causes a lot of controversy. This service provides companies to link their advertisements to specific keywords. The companies determine their budget and pick the keywords that need to be linked to their ads. Every time the advertising links are clicked, the company pays Google. So far so good, but the users of AdWords can also link registered trademarks of other companies to their ads. Some even claim that Google suggests these trademarks in Google’s keywords ideas service. These disadvantaged companies find the advertisements misleading. Several companies, including American Airlines and Rosetta Stone, sued Google for these alleged trademark infringements. They demand Google to stop selling their trademarks on AdWords and to run a corrective advertising campaign.

Sources:
Rosetta Stone sues Google
American Airlines sues Google
AdWords

Dhoest Dave

FDA says LASIK ads must tell consumers about risks

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now expects from the doctors, clinics and others practising the LASIK-technique that they inform their customers about the possible risks and side effects of such treatment on the righteous manner.
According to the surgeons and other industry groups the procedure, which makes use of laser, is safe and effective when done properly and that most patients are satisfied with their vision afterward.

Thus, their advertisements may enlighten the vision of this popular eye-treatment, which makes a life without contact lenses and glasses more than ever possible. However, the ads should also highlight any potential consequences if done insufficiently or due a slight error of the surgeon.

Both FDA and the Federal Trade Commission are responsible to monitor Lasik advertising. That means that they can take actions such as giving warnings or imposing fines in case of misleading or false information in the ads.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2246663620090522
This Youtube video explains Lasik-surgery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-YkzgfgN2k
A link to an anti-Lasik site: http://lasikdisaster.com/index.htm

Author: Khan Arslan

Cigarette makers plan U.S. Supreme Court appeal

The tobacco companies want to appeal against the new ruling regarding sales techniques and marketing approaches by cigarette-making companies. The new ruling requires the use of corrective statements on cigarette packages, in advertising and on the companies’ websites about the adverse effects of smoking.

The May 22 ruling, banning the use of expressions such as “light” and “low tar”, has been never so tough. According to the companies, this regulation affects badly the right of freedom of speech and it hampers the ongoing competition in the sector.
Another objection against the new ruling is the absence of a transitional period, which would force the companies to expend substantial and unrecoverable funds to follow the May ruling.


source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2915160620090929
Link to picture using the expressions of “light” or “low tar": http://www.euro-cig.com/gal_images/20060405114454.jpg

Author: Khan Arslan

The campaign for evolution


Unilever’s sensible TV-spot for the Dove Self-Esteem Fund won the ad World’s most prestigious award during International Advertising Festival.
The almost 1-minute during clip speaks silently but eloquently of our perception and misperception of beauty. The spot combines the idea of awareness with Dove’s slogan in the end “Take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshops for Girls“. During the spot, the use of Photoshop has showed openly how a natural-looking woman can be changed into a glamorous billboard supermodel. Ironically, Unilever itself sell as well beauty products with Dove as a core brand but they have created the self-esteem fund to make people sensible for the real beauty of life and to avoid dreaming into a photo-shopped dimension.
Through winning the award, the efforts of Unilever also changed the way advertisers and their agencies think about the Internet and viral advertising. That has certainly to do with corrective advertising as Unilever succeed to make a satire on the way corporations and the media use attractive people to sell stuff.


Source: http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/agency/article.jsp?content=20070716_69978_69978
You can watch the ad on youtube, the link to it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vFvLhNWfZU
The TV-spot was so popular, that there also exists a parody on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV8JardV74w&feature=fvst

Author: Khan Arslan

Federal Court fines sports clothes maker $120,000

“Skins” , an Australian company whose main business is sportswear, has been fined $120,000 because of a violation of the Trade Practices Act. Skins claimed in a radio, television and newspaper campaign in 2005, that they did not pay sports stars to wear its products. Federal Court has revealed that the company made deals worth $1.5 million with sports stars and teams to wear the products. Skins also breached the Act by accepting benefits including written testimonials in return for more than $800,000 worth of products. The justice has ordered that it is also required to place corrective advertising because there was a clear public interest in knowing the full details.

link to this article:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/02/2435924.htm

Boris De Doncker

Corrective advertisements: punishment or extra publicity?

In 2008, Bayer falsely claimed in their ads that their birth control pill Yaz was suitable for treatment of acne and PMS. Therefore, the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) enforced Bayer to spend $20 million on corrective advertisements. The question rises if more ads for this pill really are a punishment. Nowhere in the advertisement is explicitly mentionned that the ad is a correction for previous misleading information. As a non-informed consumer, you will probably don’t realise that you’re watching a corrective ad. Conclusion: Bayer gets more publicity, and no one will know that they have been mislead before.

Source:
Pharmaceutical company behind Yaz forced to air corrective advertising

Dhoest Dave

Blogging about (misleading) blogs

Bloggers may mislead their readers by writing deceptive articles about specific brands. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) warns that bloggers are being paid or getting free products by companies in order to write good reviews of their products by, if necessary, making false or misleading claims. This reviews written on blogs seem to be more effective than other forms of advertsing. According to recent studies, consumers show a growing confidence in consumer-generated-media and the recommendations of other consumers. Paid endorsements need to be clearly disclosed on the blogs, so the readers are aware that they are possibly reading a misleading blog. Otherwise, the bloggers can face fines up to $11.000 per violation.

Sources:
FTC Debates 'Traditional Media' vs. Blog Reviews; Demands Bloggers Disclose Freebies, Payments
Paid Blog Posts Create Misleading Content

Dhoest Dave

New study says corrective advertising hurts consumers trust in the whole industry

The study, Damage from Corrective Advertising: Causes and Cures, looked at the reasons why 89% of consumers are so suspicious of advertising. This study showed that using corrective advertising has given us, consumers, a lack of trust in the whole industry. “Damage from Corrective Advertising: Causes and Cures”, however, says that by giving a plausible explanation for the misleading claim through a press release, other negative reactions could be avoided. Still, advertisers have to ensure their claims are genuine instead of using other methods like word-of-mouth trough the internet to reach consumers and gain their trust.

Link to this article

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/pr/article.jsp?content=20080821_144337_22360

Boris De Doncker

Coca-Cola issues corrective ads after misleading 'myth busters'

Last year, Coca-Cola South Pacific (CCSP) has published an ad named “Motherhood & Myth-Busting” where they claimed Coca-Cola was save for children. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ordered CCSP to correct their claims because they were misleading for consumers. They say consumers will get the impression that Coca-cola cannot contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay. As a result of these complaints, CCSP will soon issue corrective advertisements all around Australia. Finally, CCSP was also told to include the correct levels of caffeine for Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola (light) and Coca-Cola Zero; to exclude all other misunderstandings.

Link to the indicted advertisement:
http://www.parentsjury.org.au/downloads/Coca_Cola_Kerry_Armstrong_Oct_2008.pdf


Link to the original article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5314HW20090402


Boris De Doncker