False Advertising: An Overview of Law and Enforcement

Advertising has never been a bigger business, more important to the success of products and services, or a more pervasive part of our everyday environment. Online advertising and social media have created new product categories as well as new ways to sell them. Meanwhile, enforcement of advertising laws by government agencies and legal disputes in the courts and self-regulatory forums is as active as ever. In this survey of the law governing false advertising, August Horvath, a partner in the advertising law practice of Kelley Drye & Warren in New York, makes liberal use of classic and contemporary ads to illustrate the fundamental issues in false advertising law and enforcement.  

Learning Objectives:

1. Recognize what counts as an advertisement subject to false advertising liability and when a claim is just harmless marketing "puffery"
2. Understand the legal significance of the difference between express and implied claims
3. Discuss general standards for substantiating an advertising claim, the special standards for science-based claims, and the burden you take on when you say your claim is "proven"
4. Ponder considerations when making comparative claims against other products
5. Identify exactly what disclosures and disclaimers do and don't do
6. Discover who enforces the advertising laws and where disputes are litigated
7. Engage with current hot topics in advertising law