Misleading Consumers by Unfair Advertising; Competition Law in Sri Lanka (SL)

Abstract

“Exaggerated claims of quality and selective discussion of the position attributes of a product or service are common and expected advertising practices.” Given the importance of the multiple mechanisms in the consumer protection Jurisprudence, this essay discusses the legal framework of advertising with examples in light of consumer protection Jurisprudence. Advertising plays a key role in the modern consumer society. While advertising makes available to consumers information which the advertiser wishes the consumer to have, it raises certain fundamental questions concerning its objectives and the techniques that are used. It is also alleged that advertisements tend to promote consumption by playing with consumers emotions and provide little information that are useful for evaluating competing products. It is therefore assumed that it is essential to regulate advertising. It is hereby critically evaluated that the above statement in the light of competition law and policy based on the legal regimes that is prevailing in Sri Lanka with that of Germany. It seeks to further scrutinize whether the advertising strategies are in line with the Competition Law and Policy. Legislation and regulations, their effectiveness, inefficiencies and limitations to provide adequate protections to the consumers. It is further investigated misleading, deceptive, false, comparative advertising and unfair competition to observe whether the present advertising strategies play out with emotions of the consumers other than providing appropriate information and proper comparisons. It is hereby promoted fair comparative advertising to increase a healthy competition which can be adopted to protect consumers and for them to provide information that are useful for evaluating competing products. Anti-competitive advertising in the present day context in Sri Lanka and is compared with the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG) for a better contrast and conclusion. The necessary data and information are simple surveys, discussions, published articles, books, journals and decided cases and relevant Acts have been used and analyzed to conduct this essay. In addition, many internet articles and web sites are referred to this work.