Consumer Compliance- FTC review - Essay Example

Consumer Compliance- FTC Review Consumer Compliance- FTC review FTC recommends that all advertisements should be viewed from the perception of the reasonable customer – a typical person reading or looking at it. Simply put, advertisements must be non-deceptive and truthful; they cannot be in any way unfair; most importantly, companies or advertisers must be able to back up their claims with sufficient evidence (Federal Trade Commission, 2014, 2015). Failure to abide by these defined by FTC, an advertiser may be liable to face certain FTC compliance issues including multi-million civil suits for violating the FTC Act with regards to unfair or deceptive business practices and acts.

For instance, a direct mail ad piece by a local Honda dealer in Maryland described below in some way violates the FTC Act.The direct mail advert by dealer announced something it referred to as “Extravaganza Savings Event”. According to this ad, a person could supposedly purchase a car “without any negotiations” and “as though one was a supplier” for the auto manufacturer. The mailer further stated that the advertised sale was “as a result of excess inventory”. Further, it is evident from the mailer that the ad “applied to both new and used cars” because the ad announced that a buyer would be “entitled to buy a new or used car at a price lower than the current retail selling price”.

The offer was to be on for “only one day” and in bold, large, capitalized fonts, screamed that “the dealer intended to reduce from its inventory $1,000,000 of previously used cars”. Further, it also mentioned that FINANCE representatives would be available on the material day to ensure that a buyer gets “the best terms”. Finally, the mailer ad also indicated that after the date of sale, “all the cars that would not have been sold would then continue being sold at normal market prices” (Hudson, 2007).

ReferencesFederal Trade Commission. (2014). FTC Policy Statement on Unfairness. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from https://www.ftc.gov/public-statements/1980/12/ftc-policy-statement-unfairnessFederal Trade Commission. (2015). FTC Policy Statement on Deception. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from https://www.ftc.gov/public-statements/1983/10/ftc-policy-statement-deceptionHudson, T. B. (2007). Unfair And Deceptive Practices: Entertainment For Everyone But The Dealer. Auto Dealer Monthly, 5(9). Retrieved from http://www.

autodealermonthly.com/channel/dps-office/article/story/2007/10/unfair-and-deceptive-practices-entertainment-for-everyone-but-the-dealer.aspx