I studied marketing law in Norway as part of marketing science before switching back to tech and then moving down under; Australian marketing law is very very relaxed compared to Norway.

Really can you give examples? To give recent general advertising law examples about how strict the standards bureau is, in Australia it’s illegal to show a woman doing most of the housework, or a man being a bad father.

Any ad or promotion that features the word "free".

Edit: actual example, https://coleslittleshop.com.au

They are not free. You have to spend $30 to get one. The word _free_ is perverted.

This would be illegal in Norway: https://www.forbrukertilsynet.no/lov-og-rett/veiledninger-og...

> 5.3 Gratispåstander

> ”Gratis”, ”vederlagsfritt”, ”uten betaling” og lignende uttrykk må ikke benyttes i markedsføringen dersom gratisytelsen er betinget av kjøp av andre ytelser for å oppnå gratisytelsen.

translates more or less directly (using Google translate and then adjusting slightly based on my 15+ years of experience with talking and writing mostly Norwegian) to

5.3 "Free" Claims

"Free", "Free of charge," "Unpaid," and similar terms, may not be used in the promotion if the free good or service is conditional upon purchase of other benefits to achieve the free good or service.

That's pretty spot on; thanks.

This is anti-discrimation law, not customer-protection law.

Sorry they referenced marketing laws generally, consumer protection is covered by a thing called “Australian Consumer Law” and it’s very hostile towards warranties etc.

Both of which might be overregulation, but neither of which are relevant to the kind of laws being discussed here.

As an Australian, I have no idea how lax or strong the consumer protection laws are. I know they exist, and they are enforced by an identifiable, respected federal agency.

I have no idea whether the laws are good, or whether that agency does a good job in general. In fact, I have very little notion of what I should expect from good laws and enforcement in this field.

This is changing rapidly the last decade or so, especially in the telecom industry. There's quite a few companies getting into trouble for misleading advertising recently.

> There is a whole strict regulatory system for determining facts vs mere puff.

That sounds amazing. We should probably copy that entirely, for the US.