Utter falsehood in advertising

[vvvexation]

There's a flashing banner ad on a web page I'm looking at that says "Congratulations! You've won a free Xbox!" No fine print, no other text at all.

Isn't that an outright lie? How is that legal?

Comments

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

Well, would it be legal for me to post in my LiveJournal saying "Congratulations! You've won a free Xbox!" with no context? Laws about deceptive advertising could possibly only apply when someone's taking your money; when there's no money involved, it's free speech. So to speak.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

I dunno. There definitely are laws about false advertising, which means that it's not just when they're actually getting your money but when they're trying to get your money that some kinda rules apply. I'm just not sure how much that covers.

[imnotbob.livejournal.com]

I doubt they care if its legal. They just want people to click on their link for what ever nefarious purpose they have in mind.

[deyo.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the internet is not exactly the Land of Accountability. Otherwise, I'd get a lot less email that says, "100% LEGAL!" ;)

The web page you're looking at gets its ads from somewhere else, which hosts its images somewhere else, which isn't responsible for the content it carries, which was made by some guy in Antigua. :)