The advertising

The European Union is deeply involved in the protection of consumers against misleading and comparative advertising and against the dangerous consequences they could bring for consumers, by defining some common rules at EU level.

An advertising can be misleading when it impairs the consumer's ability to take an informed decision, thereby causing the consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise or causing damage to competitors.

But how can we manage to understand whether an advertising is misleading? It is important to analyse all the characteristics of the product, its supply, its composition, its price compared to the quality, the described results and those that are expected to come while using it, the outcome of some tests that have been carried out on it, the identity or the position of those in charge of advertising it as well as all the other main characteristics of the product. Whenever an advertising message is shown, there should be a corresponding reality of the identity, quality and characteristics which are actually advertised.

Furthermore, an advertising can be considered misleading from the point of view of its content or its presentation as it happens for example when a consumer receives an advertising that make him believe that he has won some kind of prize, while it is not the case.

For these reasons, there has been a EU regulation that has been implemented by all Member States according to which they are compelled to control and verify whether some kind of advertising can be considered misleading in order to ensure consumer’s protection as well as to guarantee the respect of the competitors of those traders carrying out unfair advertising.

There are some European regulations governing the so called comparative advertising, defining in detail how it should be carried out in order to be allowed. An advertising is comparative when it refers to the products or the services offered by a competitor, in a more or less explicit way. It is very important to monitor and control the fairness of such practices and the Authority for competition is in charge of this activity.

Every Member State is required to create a control system in order to avoid all unfair and misleading advertising so that every advertising message is clear and fair. The Authority of competition is in charge of punishing those infringing such rules thus causing damages to consumers.