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Are U.S. advertising laws ruining competition? Are they helping or hurting consumers? These questions are answered in the first book ever published to present a comprehensive public policy analysis of advertising law. Using insights from communications theory and economic analysis, Professor Petty analyzes all of the recent reported cases under the principal advertising laws. He examines their tendency to discourage beneficial advertising such as explicit comparisons, and analyzes their potential for protecting consumers from significant injury caused by deceptive advertising.
The book begins with an innovative analysis of the Constitutional protection afforded advertising under the First Amendment. Petty proposes a simple test for determining whether particular advertising is fully or partially protected by the First Amendment. This novel analysis continues with an overview of advertising law from an evolutionary perspective and social science perspectives on how advertising works. The bulk of the book examines cases under the Lanham and Federal Trade Commission acts, as well as advertising as regulated by the antitrust laws and the U.S. International Trade Commission.
List of contents
BackgroundAdvertising and the First Amendment
The Goals and Evolution of Advertising Law
The Effects of Advertising
The Principal Advertising LawsRegulation in the Public Interest by the FTC
Competitor Lawsuits Under the Lanham Act
The FTC vs. the Lanham Act
An Aside on Comparative Advertising
Antitrust AnalysisAntitrust and Advertising: Collusion
Advertising as Exclusionary Conduct
Conclusions and RecommendationsThe U.S. I.T.C.--Developing Advertising Law
Toward A "New and Improved" Advertising Law
References
Appendices
About the author
Ross D. Petty is Emeritus Professor of Marketing Law at Babson College. During his 31 years at Babson, he taught about 1600 undergraduates and nearly 4000 MBA students. He is the author of two books, The Impact of Advertising Law on Business and Public Policy (1992) and Branding Law: A Guide to Legal Issues in Brand Management (2016).
