The Great American Blow-Up : Puffery in Advertising and Selling

This edition provides new examples of puffery and deceit in advertising. It examines in detail the role of laws and the Federal Trade Commission in ensuring fair representation of goods and services to consumers. It describes and assesses development in advertising from the mid-1970s to today. 1. I'm The Greatest, Yes Sirree, That's All You'll Ever Hear From Me! -- 2. Falsity Without Deception: As Possible As The Law Says, But Not As Probable -- 3. Puffery: Used Because It Works, Legalized Because It Doesn't -- 4. The Roots Of Sellerism -- 5. Warranty: How Much Promise Do You Find In A Promise? -- 6. Misrepresentation: How Much Lying Do You Find In A Falsehood? -- 7. Opinion And Value Statements And Puffery: Avoiding Fact And Keeping Sellerism Alive -- 8. The Federal Trade Commission: Accelerating The Consumerist Trend -- 9. Reasonable Consumers Or Other Consumers? How The Ftc Decides -- 10. The Ftc And Puffery: Some Wins And Some Losses In The Fight For Consumerism -- 11. Additional Kinds Of Puffery, Beginning With Obvious Falsity -- 12. Puffing With Social And Psychological Claims -- 13. Puffing With Literally Misdescriptive Names -- 14. Puffing With Mock-ups -- 15. Puffery's Immunity Should Be Eliminated. Ivan L. Preston. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 197-227) And Index. How does advertising really work? This thoroughly revised edition of Ivan Preston's popular classic, The Great American Blow-Up, provides new examples of puffery and deceit in advertising. Preston examines in detail the role of laws and the Federal Trade Commission in ensuring fair representation of goods and services to consumers. In a new concluding chapter, Preston describes and assesses developments in the field of advertising from the mid–1970s to the present.