An Examination of that Form of Deception Called Puffery
Puffery is a marketing term which pertains to the “message" part of the promotional mix. The term itself has become the subject of discussion for two reasons: 
 
1) 
 
From a legal standpoint, puffery is legitimate and is, in fact, a permissable form of communication. 
 
 
 
 
2) 
 
Puffery and truth substantiated by fact are recognized as two different types of information.
A Review of Eight Years of Narb Casework: Guidelines and Parameters of Deceptive Advertising
This article summarizes all NARB panel decisions concerning truth and accuracy in national advertising rendered during the mechanism's first eight years of operation and establishes parameters that...
Consumer Protection: Problems and Prospects
This book offers a succinct evaluative discussion of several major consumer protection issues, of regulatory activities aimed at them, and of the positions and perspectives of business and consumer interests on them. It provides an equitable discussion of consumer protection by a moderate consumerist who is sensitive to business's needs and problems, and is sympathetic to regulators' difficulties yet critical of many of their accomplishments. Feldman attempts to identify basic buyer-seller conflicts and to reveal value judgments underlying them. But his book succeeds less in the latter area than in citing "arguments" representative of all three sides (business, consumer, regulator) on the issues selected. Three major sections and a very brief appendix, which encapsulates 25 major consumer protection laws, comprise the book. Feldman first chronicles the development of consumer protection activity in the U.S. and the factors that have contributed to it. Next he discusses sources of conflict between buyer and seller and presents a good section on "Free Enterprise and Consumer Sovereignty." Federal regulation and agencies are then considered (the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission). Part 2 explores four major consumer protection issues: product safety and standards, advertising, consumer redress, and problems of special consumer segments. The chapter on product safety contains a nice but brief discussion of costs versus benefits of safety. Another chapter explores questions about advertising manipulation and deception and reviews corrective advertising, counteradvertising, and ad substantiation remedies. Service and redress after the sale are discussed with commentary on the Magnuson-Moss Act, warranties, class actions, and small-claims courts. Consumer problems peculiar to the poor, the elderly, and children constitute another chapter. Part 3 speculates about the future of consumer protection. Feldman contends that effective industry self-regulation programs are likely to remain exceptions rather than the rule. He doesn't foresee major increases in consumer protection activity but predicts that the Agency for Consumer Advocacy probably will be established. Professors, businesspeople, policymakers, and students of business and public policy will find this book helpful and easy reading. It could serve as a graduate or senior-level supplement for a "consumerism" or "policy" course. The book might have been improved by references to the public policy consumer research literaturelimited as it may be-particularly in view of Feldman's lament about the need for empirical data in consumer protection debates. He does include, however, a generous sprinkling of citations to, and lively quotations from, congressional hearings and the business press. Conciseness is a strength of Feldman's book as well as a potential weakness. Some readers will desire more in-depth discussion of topics such as costbenefit analysis. Others may want a wider selection of topics (e.g., major state and local consumer protection programs, the need for systematic program evaluation and policy planning). But overall, the book is a useful addition to the consumer protection literature.