What is the difference between false advertising and misleading advertising?

Video Description

My name is Ben Heikali, and I'm an attorney at Faruqi & Faruqi.

 

Although the words false and deceptive go hand-in-hand when it comes to consumer protection lawsuits, there is a distinction between the two. False advertising is when a company says something about its products or services, either in an advertisement or a label, that is outright false.

 

On the other hand, deceptive advertising is when a manufacturer makes statements that may be technically true in some sense, but are likely to deceive a reasonable consumer.

 

For example, let's say that the name of a product was "Olive Oil and Balsamic Salad Dressing". Based on this, a reasonable consumer could believe that olive oil is the only oil, or at least the primary oil in the dressing. However, while the product may contain some olive oil, oftentimes the primary oils in these products may be cheaper and less nutritious oils. While the name olive oil and balsamic may be true in some sense because the product contains some olive oil, it is misleading given that there are more cheaper and less nutritious oils in the product.

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Faruqi & Faruqi

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