Consumer’s Bill of Rights

[Page 655]The idea of a Consumer Bill of Rights grew out of the consumer movement that began in the 1960s as a protest movement of consumers and their advocates against what they saw as unfair, discriminatory, and arbitrary treatment by business organizations. Prior to this time, consumers had a limited ability to defend themselves against faulty or deceptive products and misleading or deceptive advertising practices. This movement involved a number of activities that were designed to protect consumers from a wide range of practices that infringed on the rights that consumers were believed to possess in the marketplace. The time was ripe for a new consumer movement that was concerned with a range of issues that grew out of a highly affluent population, a technologically ...