...Running head: Bait and Switch Advertising and Communication Law: Bait and Switch Karen Kinnaird Professor Mark Glantz Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance Business Law 500 November 27, 2011 Abstract Bait and Switch advertising is a type of fraud and is a violation of consumer laws. This form of business practice is an attempt to lure or bait a potential customer into a business. However, once the customer is about to take the bite, the business will pull a “switch” and make the product no longer available at that price or have a different product they are trying to “unload”. Advertising and Communication Law: Bait and Switch The Federal Trade Commission has defined bait advertising (includes any form of public notice however disseminated or utilized) as “an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary aim of a bait advertisement is to obtain leads as to persons interested in buying merchandise of the type so advertised” (Guides Against Bait Advertising). Advertisements An advertisement or ads is defined by dictionary.com as a paid announcement, as of goods for sale, in newspapers, magazines, radio, television (Dictionary, 2010) and now the internet which some call a “digital centric landscape”...
Words: 1122 - Pages: 5
...Bait and Switch John Doe Strayer University Law, Ethics and Corporate Governance LEG 500 Bait and Switch Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Does this have any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement? The Federal Trade Commission defines bait advertising as an enticing but insincere offering for a product or service where the advertiser has no intention or desire to sell. Instead, the purpose is to entice the consumer to buy another, usually higher priced, item or service that is more advantageous to the advertiser. The primary purpose of bait advertising is to identify potential buyers of the type of merchandise being advertised (“Guides against Bait Advertising“, 2011, para. 238.0). The advertisement that to which Betty responded to was an offer to sell a truck that was located at the dealer’s location, it was Betty’s responsibility to come to the dealer’s location in order to finalize the purchase. The fact that Betty made a long journey on a hot day does not, by itself, obligate the dealer to honor the terms of the advertisement. The situation does make Betty a sympathetic figure and in the interest of good customer service and making a sale Tony offered a $2000.00 discount to Betty on a new truck that was just delivered and later offered her an additional $1000.00 discount (Video) . Betty remained insistent that she wanted to buy the truck that was advertised in the paper and...
Words: 1704 - Pages: 7
...Assignment #4- Bait and Switch By: Charlene Allen LEG5000: Law, Ethics & Corp. Governance Jamie Davis Smith August 21, 2011 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created in 1914. Its purpose was to prevent unfair methods of competition in commerce. Over the years, Congress passed additional laws giving the agency greater authority to police anticompetitive practices. In 1938, Congress passed a broad prohibition against unfair and deceptive acts or practices. Since then, the Commission also has been directed to administer a wide variety of other consumer protection laws, including the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Pay-Per-Call Rule and the Equal Credit. The FTC pursues vigorous and effective law enforcement; advances consumers’ interests by sharing its expertise with federal and state legislatures and U.S. and international government agencies; develops policy and research tools through hearings, workshops, and conferences; and creates practical and plain-language educational programs for consumers and businesses in a global marketplace with constantly changing technologies. Bait and switch advertising is a violation of consumer laws. It is a type of fraudulent business practice where one party, such as a manufacturer or business, will offer the "bait". This could be a product that is advertised at a very low cost and is designed to lure in a customer. Once the customer is attracted, the manufacturer will pull the "switch". The proposed product will no longer...
Words: 1690 - Pages: 7
...Assignment 4: Advertising and Communication Law: Bait and Switch By Kelvin Barnes LEG 500 – Law, Ethics & Corp. Governance Professor Jamie Davis Smith Strayer University 8/16/2011 Advertising and Communication Law: Bait and Switch Betty drove three hours in one hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. No I don’t think it really mattered if Betty drove three hours in 100-degree heat whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. If the dealership advertised the car at a cheaper price it should not have mattered whether Betty came from around the corner or from the other side of the state. I do believe that Betty should have really done her homework before she decided to drive that far for a car. People need to understand that when stores especially car dealerships offer sales that seem too good to be true, it’s basically a trick to get people into the store to buy something more expensive. When Tony said over the phone “three thousand dollars firm,” explain whether or not he was making an offer that, if accepted, would bind the dealership in contract. Tony made the offer over the phone and I guess it would stand as a binging offer to Betty on the trade on of her truck if her never told her they would have to check the car out first before he could make her a trade in offer on her truck. Tony has made a deal site unseen...
Words: 1046 - Pages: 5
...Bait and Switch Melody McIntosh Professor Dwight T. Elliott Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance - LEG500 February 27, 2011 Bait and Switch 1 1. Betty drove for three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. The fact that Betty drove for three hours in one hundred degree weather has no bearing on whether the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. The dealer is required by legal guidelines to perform in accordance with published advertisement regardless of who the consumer is, where they come from or what they do. Advertising laws are aimed at protecting consumers by requiring advertisers to be truthful about their products and to be able to substantiate their claims. All businesses must comply with advertising and marketing laws, and failure to do so could result in costly lawsuits and civil penalties. (Busines.Gov, 2011) However, the dealer tried to pull the old bait and switch on Betty. I believe the three hour drive in one hundred degree weather had more of an effect on Betty’s determination to hold the dealer to perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Bait advertising is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product or service which the advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch consumers from...
Words: 1362 - Pages: 6
...Assignment 4- Bait and Switch Mohammed Baba Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance John Rodgers Strayer University September 02, 2011 Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Introduction: Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud, most commonly used in retail sales and car dealership but also applicable to other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by advertising for a product or service at a low price; second, the customers discover that the advertised good is not available and are "switched" to a costlier product. The fact that Betty drove three hours in one hundred degree weather has no bearing on whether the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Advertisements are not offers. In every advertisement by marketing firms, certain vital terms and conditions may not be very clear and certain. Common examples of these factors are pricing conditions and quantity. The law in advertising calls these invitations to treat; basically these are invitations from the company or the advertising firm to the general public to make an offer on a particular item or items at a given period of time. However no statement or illustration of any form of advertisement should be use to creates a false impression of the grade, quality, make, value, currency of model, size, color, usability, or origin of the product offered,...
Words: 1183 - Pages: 5
...that the sales representative spoke with Betty and did not tell her that there was only one truck at the advertised price. The sales representative also neglected to inform Betty that if the advertised vehicle was no longer available and she decided to choose another vehicle from the lot that the down payment could be more than the three thousand dollars he originally quoted her. Betty was lured into the “Bait and Switch” scam, which, as stated in the legal dictionary, is a deceptive sales technique that involves advertising a low-priced item to attract customers to a store, then persuading them to buy more expensive goods by failing to have a sufficient supply of the advertised item on hand or by disparaging its quality. Bait and Switch advertising is a violation of consumer laws and will allow a party to sue for damages if they are indeed a victim of bait and switch. In Betty’s case, she should have been able to get a vehicle for the price advertised and with the three thousand dollars down payment that was quoted to her by the sales representative. Bait and Switch 2. When Tony said over the phone “three thousand dollars firm, “ explain whether or not he was making an offer that, if accepted, would bind the dealership in contract. When Tony said over the phone “three thousand dollars firm, “ he was not binding the dealership in contract if the offer was accepted, at least not verbally. In order for the deal to be legal and binding, a contract would need...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...Bait and Switch Richard Sacks Strayer University LEG 500 – Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance Professor: Dr. Michael T. Hanners [ November 4, 2010 ] Abstract This paper explores the relationship between the advertiser and the consumer as it relates to advertising and communications law and bait and switch. The publications all agree with their definitions and uses of advertising and communications law and bait and switch. The Advertiser is required to follow the advertising and communications law. Bait advertising is created to allure a consumer to an insincere offer to purchase a product or service which the advertiser does not intend to sell or want to sell. The purpose of bait advertising is to switch a consumer from buying the advertised product or service, in order to sell that consumer another product or service that usually is a higher price or is more advantageous to the advertiser. The scenario that has been presented, demonstrates how the advertiser, the car dealership advertised a truck that possible was unavailable, that resulted in alluring the consumer, Betty, to the dealership in order to purchase that vehicle. The switch occurs when Tony, the salesperson of the advertiser, tried everything not to sell her that truck in order to sell that consumer another product or service that usually is a higher price or is more advantageous to the advertiser. This is an ideal case of Bait and Switch. Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat....
Words: 1497 - Pages: 6
...Assignment: * Assignment #4 – Bait and Switch (Due November 29) View the video: “Bait and Switch” by clicking on the link in the course shell. There is also a link that will allow you to print the script of the video. Write a four to five (4-5) page report that answers the following: 1. Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. 2. When Tony said over the phone “three thousand dollars firm,” explain whether or not he was making an offer that, if accepted, would bind the dealership in contract. 3. Explain whether or not advertized specials can be taken advantage of by employees of the advertiser. 4. Explain to what extent an advertisement binds the advertiser to the terms of the advertisement. 5. Explain to what extent an advertisement has to be true. The format of the report is to be as follows:o Typed, double spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one inch margins on all sides, APA format.o Type the question followed by your answer to the question.o In addition to the four to five (4-5) pages required, a title page is to be included. The title page is to contain the title of the assignment, your name, the instructor’s name, the course title, and the date. NOTE: You will be graded on the quality of your answers, the logic/organization of the report, your language skills, and your writing skills. | The assignment...
Words: 2357 - Pages: 10
...ASSIGNMENT #4 - “BAIT AND SWITCH” LEGAL 500 Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. The bias of advertising has existed as long as advertising has. Advertising is the art of applying bias to sell. It is the designed to make something attractive, to make something desired, or needed through the act of creating simple psychological games. The creation of fallacies to stimulate a sense of need is the very foundation of advertising. The pseudo logical appeal to emotion presented in such ads stimulates us to buy things like soft drinks, of which none admit to their product as being merely carbonated sugar water, in doing so they create an image, an image we are told is an ideal. (Cline 1) Under law, bait and switch advertising is considered illegal if the seller has no "intent or want to sell" the advertised item. The fact of the matter is, though, that proving such a bait and switch practice can be fairly difficult, as there must be clear proof that there has been an intention to defraud by the seller. That is not to say, however, that such fraud cannot be caught. Bait and switch advertising occurs when a particular item is priced so low that consumers are lured into the store to buy it. This is known as the bait. Once the customer tries to buy the advertised item, they are told that it is sold or they are discouraged from buying it by the...
Words: 1780 - Pages: 8
...Bait and Switch Does the fact that Betty drove three hours in one-hundred-degree heat have any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement? The fact that Betty had drove three hours in one hundred degree weather to the venue in which the car is being sold, has no bearing on whether the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Generally, ads are not offers but invitations for offers. Advertisements include sales promotion and offers intended to the recipients in the form of direct marketing, or sponsorship. The law calls these advertisements to the general public an invitation to make an offer on a particular item. Since the ad does not embody an offer, then a contract between the two parties doesn’t exist because offer and acceptance must be present to qualify as an offer. This situation does not qualify under the bait and switch laws because there are no unfair practices being done by not selling the car to Betty based simply on the fact that she drove three hours to the dealership. Although Betty might argue that she relied on her detriment (the doctrine of detrimental reliance) on the ad, the dealership is not obligated to sell the truck to Betty simply because she endured some unfavorable conditions to get to the dealership to make an offer to purchase the truck. When Tony said over the phone "three thousand dollars firm," was he making an offer that, if accepted, would bind the dealership...
Words: 1356 - Pages: 6
...Bait and Switch LEG500: Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance August 22, 2011 Abstract Bait and switch advertising is a violation of consumer laws. It is a type of business practice where one party such as a business, will offer “bait”. This tactic is used to lure the customer by advertising a product at a very low cost. Once the customer is interested, the business will pull the “switch” and the product is no longer available at the advertised price. Instead, the product is offered at a higher price. In the video, “Bait and Switch”, the newspaper ad advertising a pickup truck for an attractive price lured Betty to the dealership. Betty drove three hours to the car dealership to get three thousand for her used pickup truck and to purchase the pickup truck advertised in the ad. Betty was baited by the advertising for a product at a low price. Betty discovers that the pickup truck advertised in the newspaper ad is not available and is switched to a higher price product. Tony did not show Betty the advertised pickup but a more expensive truck. In this paper, one will discuss the rights that consumers such as Betty have when victimized by Bait and switch advertising. An individual will be able to discuss if the distance and temperature conditions are a factor in determining if the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. One will also be able to discuss the factors that dictate a...
Words: 1292 - Pages: 6
...Bait and Switch Strayer University Leg 500: Law Ethics and Corporate Governance December 5, 2010 Abstract This paper will cover bait and switch advertising techniques employed at Rally Motors. We will examine how consumers can seek relief via the Lanham Act and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for false and misleading advertisements. We will discuss the unethical behavior exuded by Mr. Tony Sulka, the salesman at Rally Motors, and how he promised Ms. Betty Algur $3000.00 for her trade in, and then attempted to back out of the offer, once Ms. Algur arrived at the dealership. We study how the Dealership’s advertisements and negotiation tactics bound them to their advertisement, and should have led to a firm contract for Ms. Algur. Betty Algur a consumer from Vacaville came into Rally motors because of an advertisement in the local newspaper that stated they were selling a pickup truck for $11399.00. She spoke to the sales man Mr. Tony Sulka before coming to the dealership, and he stated that they would give her $3,000.00 for her trade in vehicle. The fact that Betty drove three hours in 100 degree weather had no bearing on whether Rally Motors should have performed in accordance with their published advertisement. The dealership cannot be held liable for how far a customer travels to do business with an organization. It was Betty’s choice to drive to Rally Motors. A car dealer is not required to sell a person a car just because that person underwent some difficulty...
Words: 1579 - Pages: 7
...LEG 500 | Bait and Switch | Law, Ethics & Corp. Governance | Bait and Switch 1. Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Betty driving for three hours in 100 degree weather has nothing to do with whether the dealer should perform in accordance with the published advertisement or not. According to Section 87(2) of the Restatement (second) states that “an offer which the offeror should reasonably expect to induce action or forbearance of a substantial character on the part of the offeree before acceptance and which does induce such action or forbearance is binding as an option contract to the extent necessary to avoid injustice” (University of California (CSUN), 2011). The dealership cannot be held liable for any hardships that a potential customer endure before they even reach the dealership. Tony did not promise to have or sell the advertised vehicle to Betty when he spoke to her. According to the video, the only item discussed during the phone conversation was the trade-in value of Betty’s truck and no surroundings circumstances. Since there were no promises made in the phone discussion the hardship that Betty endured was done so on her own free will and therefore not Tony’s responsibility. 2. When Tony said over the phone “three thousand dollars firm,” explain whether or not he was making an offer that, if accepted...
Words: 1308 - Pages: 6
...Bait and Switch By Darryl Mitchell Professor Kenneth Pino Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance – LEG 500 August 21, 2011 1. Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat. Explain if this fact has any bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. The fact that Betty drove three hours in one-hundred degree heat has no bearing on whether or not the dealer must perform in accordance with the published advertisement. Betty chose to drive three hours based on the advertisement because she wanted the truck that was being advertised in the newspaper. According to the video, Betty contacted the dealership and spoke with a man, as she indicated, who said he would give her three thousand dollars firm for her trade in. Betty entered the dealership with the newspaper in hand that showed the advertisement for the truck priced at $11,399 and was determined to purchase the truck. Tony was determined to deter Betty from the advertised truck by describing other trucks that were available at a higher price. Tony's sales tactic is known as bait and switch advertising. According to Wikipedia, bait and switch advertising is a way to lure customers into a business by offering to sell a product or service that the advertiser does not intend or want to sell. Once the customer enters the business the salesperson tries to switch the customer from purchasing the advertised merchandise to purchasing something...
Words: 1521 - Pages: 7
