Wednesday 29 May 2013

Week 8 - Disclaimers in Advertising


Disclaimers are a commonly used method business’ can use for advertising to catch the viewers’ interest. Generally, they employ an image or text with a clear, attention grabbing statement. They then go on to clarify or explain the statement in detail in a separate, less highlighted or emphasized way, this being the disclaimer.

 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has identified this area as one businesses need to pay special attention to, in order to not mislead the viewer. While there is often a very thin line in advertising, it is against the law to engage in conduct that may be misleading or deceptive to the consumer.  And to do so, they have outlined a set of guidelines businesses should follow with disclaimers in advertising. They must:

·         be bold, precise and compelling;

·         be accurate, clear and in precise terms;

·         not contradict the main message of the ad; and

·         be introduced at the same time as the representations they qualify.

 

Care must also be taken with audio-visual forms of advertisements, such as verbal disclaimers, written disclaimers in video ads or voiceovers.

 

Below are examples of disclaimers in online advertisements:
 
 

 



The Medibank advertisement for travel insurance is probably the best of the lot for consumers. The asterisks  is nice and clear, and the disclaimer (the terms and conditions) were listed close to the ad, with lots of details. The other two are less effective uses of disclaimers. The main complaint with the Freedom Furniture ad is that the disclaimer merely says ‘Conditions Apply’, with no real explanation or access to these conditions. The Groupon ad is not overly great for consumers, but is probably fine with the ACCC guidelines. There is little information in the ad for consumers in terms of these actual deals, but as long as these deals will be real in the future, Groupon hasn’t been misleading.  

 

Generally, disclaimers are an effective means of advertising. However, while none of the examples given would breach the guidelines issued by the ACCC, there is, as stated, a very thin line, and care must be taken.

 

342 Words

 


 
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2001/1326.html

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