With a new year starting, you may have inventory you’re looking to clear or incentives to offer. Are you making sure your advertisements comply with legislation?
The Automotive Business Regulation Section 11(2)(n) states a business operator cannot use false, misleading or deceptive statements in advertisements.
Here are some examples:
- The advertisement states “never been in an accident,” but it has been, so the statement in the advertisement is false.
- The advertisement states “two per cent interest rate,” but does not mention that it only applies to the first year of payments, so the statement in the advertisement is misleading.
- The advertisement states “test drive a new model,” but the business knows it will not have any new models in stock, so the statement in the advertisement is deceptive.
The all-in advertised price should not include incentives that are not available to every consumer, such as a membership card incentive. In an advertisement, state the all-in price first, then state prices after certain incentives, but not all incentives together if they do not apply to every customer. Then, fully disclose who qualifies for each incentive and how it is applied to the price.
Remember, Section 6(4)(o) of the Consumer Protection Act states it is an unfair practice if “a supplier’s representation that a specific price benefit or advantage exists if it does not.”
You can find more information on compliant advertising practices on amvic.org.