Date: 14

th
Feb, 2014


DECEPTIVE ADVERTISEMENT

Business Ethics & Legal Environment
EMBA-510
Md. Imranur Hasan
ID: 20123060
Submitted to...

Barota Chakraborty
Lecturer
Department of Marketing
Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka
Submitted by
Deceptive or False Advertising
Deceptive advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in advertising. As advertising
has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise
avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or
misleading advertising. "Truth" refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the
right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.
False advertising, in the most blatant of contexts, is illegal in most countries. However,
advertisers still find ways to deceive consumers in ways that are legal, or technically illegal but
unenforceable.

Methods of Deceptive Advertising
Manipulation of measurement units and standards- Sellers may manipulate standards to mean
something different than their widely understood meaning
Misleading information of Ingredients- Ingredients list printed on the product and the actual
ingredients which are used to produce the product are not same.
Fillers and oversized packaging- Some products are sold with fillers, which increase the legal
weight of the product with something that costs the producer very little compared to what the
consumer thinks that he or she is buying
Manipulation of terms -Many terms do have some meaning, but the specific extent is not
legally defined, leading to their abuse.
Incomplete comparison "Better" means one item is superior to another in some way, while
"best" means it is superior to all others in some way
Inconsistent comparison - In an inconsistent comparison, an item is compared with many
others, but only compared with each on the attributes where it wins, leaving the false
impression that it is the best of all products, in all ways
Misleading illustrations- One common example is that advertised images of hamburgers, which
may show the items to be larger than they really are. Often every ingredient is visible from the
side being depicted in the advertisement, while in actuality they would be much less visible.
Products which are sold unassembled or unfinished may also have a picture of the finished
product, without a corresponding picture of what the customer is actually buying.
Selection of Deceptive Advertisement:

At present, Energy drinks of different brands are very popular in Bangladesh since the
companies published very lucrative type of advertisements which are very popular in young
generation. Unfortunately, most of the advertisement of energy drinks are deceptive type
considering below two methods.
1. Misleading information of Ingredients.
2. Misleading illustrations.

1. Misleading information of Ingredients:
The ingredients list of speed energy drink is tabulated below.
Nutrition Facts per 100 ml :
Energy 73 kcal
Protein 00 gm
Fat 00 gm
Sodium 20 mg
Tiuraine 43 mg
Caffeine 20 mg
Inositol 6.60 mg
Carbohydrate 18.46 gm
Vitamin E 2.93 gm

According to Akij Food & Beverage Ltd. (Speed energy drink producer), there is no harmful ingredients in
their product but Potential Problems from Specific Ingredients of energy drink are given below.
According to The National Institutes of Health, America.
Potential Problems from Specific I ngredients
Lets take a look at the most common energy drink ingredients and list the potential side effects
that could result from ingesting too much of them from your favorite energy drink.
Caffeine
This is the most common energy drink ingredient and one of the most widely consumed
substances in the world.
Caffeine tolerance varies between individuals, but for most people a dose of over 200-300mg
may produce some initial symptoms: restlessness, increase heartbeat, insomnia.
Higher dosages can lead to more
Increased blood pressure
Heart palpitations
Gastrointestinal disturbance (diarrhea)
Increase urination
Dizziness, irritability, nausea, nervousness, jitters.
Allergic reactions can include; rash, hives, itching, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest,
swelling of the (mouth, face, lips, or tongue), diarrhea, shakiness, trouble sleeping, vomiting.
Headache and severe fatigue from withdrawal.
Breast shrinkage in females.
Sugar
Most energy drinks are high in sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup and/or cane sugar.
Some use creative names to make their version of sugar seem healthier, like natural cane
juice or theyll call it glucose.
High sugar drinks are linked to the obesity epidemic
Tooth Decay
Increases risk of type 2 diabetes.
The sugar in energy drinks causes blood sugar and insulin spikes which later result in a crash
like feeling.
Taurine
No side effects from Taurine in energy drinks have been documented. Some countries (France,
Denmark, and Norway) originally banned energy drinks because of their taurine content, but
have since accepted that taurine consumption is safe based on the evidence to date.
The amounts placed in energy drinks are well below what would be needed
for therapeutic benefit or for any potential side-effects.
I nositol
No known side effects have been reported, but ingesting large quantities has been linked to
diarrhea. Large doses have been used to treat certain psychiatric disorders.
Artificial Sweeteners
If you drink sugar-free energy drinks you may consuming any number of artificial sweeteners.
There is always debate around the health effects of these (particularly aspartame) all major
health institutions regard them as safe.

2. Misleading illustrations
Most of the advertisement of energy drinks are presented in such a way that anyone can gain
the energy like super hero drinking their product. For example, the advertisements of power
energy drink are based on this title chumukei Action. In practical, it doesnt help in action,
rather the Caffeine of the drink may increase blood circulation temporarily which is not good
for health.

Findings & Recommendation:
Most of the advertisement of energy drinks, I found, is deceptive type but they are continuing these
type of add. due to lack of proper advertising rules in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Govt. should establish and
maintain proper advertising law so that the general people may not mislead by these type of false
advertising.




Sources:
The Mayo Clinic
The National Institutes of Health
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2966367/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3537369.stm