- Entry
- Reader's guide
- Entries A-Z
- Subject index
A FORM OF deceptive advertising, puffery has immense consequences. The term refers to the practice of making exaggerated claims for a product. Although advertisers routinely make such false claims, and the result is deception, the law considers such practices to be legal. Puffery claims are communicated in the form of unprovable superlatives (that is adjectives such as the best, super, new and improved), often in the form of various advertising slogans:
Blatz is Milwaukee's finest beer
Nestle makes the very best chocolate
Ford gives you better ideas
You can be sure if it's Westinghouse
Barnum and Bailey, the greatest show on earth
Coke is the real thing
Seagram's, America's number one gin
Winston tastes good like a cigarette should
BMW: the ultimate driving machine
Apple Computers: the power to be your best
None of the slogans ...
- Loading...