Re:Beware of Book Blurbs
by JohnFen on Monday March 06, 2023 @10:14PM
(#35051097)
That isn't really an attempt at making people believe untrue things. I don't think it counts as puffery for that reason.
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The first paragraph of the "Puffery" wikipedia page:
"In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. Puffery serves to "puff up" what is being described. In law, puffery is usually invoked as a defense argument: it identifies futile speech, typically of a seller, which does not give rise to legal liability. In a circular manner, legal explanations for this normative position describe the non-enforceable speech as a statement that no "reasonable person" would take seriously anyway."
It seems puffery in both those senses.
Well, this is a point reasonable people can disagree on. I think intent matters. Exaggeration for comedic or parody effect isn't puffery because the intent is not actually to deceive.
Actual puffery comes about because there was a legitimate intent to deceive. As your (accurate) description of the law even implies: it's a defense for advertisers when they are caught being deceptive.