Should puffery advertising in South Africa be banned? An interdisciplinary analysis

Abstract

English: Advertising is employed to influence consumer decision-making by informing, persuading and reminding. Legal persuasive advertising is referred to as puffery (praise for a product by means of subjective opinions, superlatives, or exaggerations, vaguely and generally stating no specific facts). This article addresses the question whether, considering the legal, regulatory and potential welfare losses perspective, puffery in South Africa should not be banned. The article concludes that outlawing puffery would harm the self-regulating nature of the marketing industry in South Africa. It is suggested that firms re-visit their ethical standards and policies; re-commit to the societal marketing paradigm and all it entails, and re-align to the spirit of creativity and the Advertising Standards Authority Code of Practice.

Afrikaans: oorreed en te herinner. Daar word na wettige oorredende reklame verwys as “puffery” (lof vir ’n produk deur middel van subjektiewe opinies, superlatiewe of oordrywings, wat vaagweg en in die algemeen geen spesifieke feite stel nie). Gegewe die wetlike, regulerende en moontlike welsynsverliesperspektiewe, spreek die artikel die vraag aan of “puffery” in Suid-Afrika nie verban moet word nie. Die artikel kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die verbanning van “puffery” die selfregulerende aard van die bemarkingsindustrie in Suid-Afrika sal skend. Daar word aanbeveel dat ondernemings hul etiese standaarde en beleid heroorweeg; hul opnuut toewy aan die sosiale bemarkingsvoorbeeld, en hul opnuut belyn met die gees van kreatiwiteit en die Raad op Reklame-Standaarde se Praktykskode.