Can you legally make impossible promises?

Pom Wonderful not too long ago settled with the FTC over their "Cheat Death" campaign as I recall. Not sure about the details and facts of the case, however.

If you want bread lawsuits over heath claims, you want Benjamin Suarez.

Some company offered a fighter jet (they didn't have one) for accumulation of, like twenty-five million points in a contest. Sure enough somehow someone accumulated the points, and much legality ensued.

What someone thinks is impossible is often interrupted by someone else doing it. Every time someone makes a joke, you can be sure somewhere, someone is going to take it as truth.

Ha! So that's the way to get my dream fighter jet!

To answer your question: It depends if you actually play it on as a joke - Make it very clear that it is in deed impossible e.g. Vertical Leap so high you'd reach the moon!
however, if you play on the claim as if it is actually a serious promise then no, you better have a proper disclaimer, and make sure that you do the "not all results are typical" somewhere in the footnotes.

- Mac

In my mind it's a matter of what is actually impossible and what is seemingly impossible.

The first of these is actually impossible.

The second is possible. Just as the plane deal was also possible. These just seem so ridiculously out of reach that it doesn't seem possible.

But they are. As it's obviously been proven.

The first can't be proven. The second can, if it's happened.

Marcia,

I just read what he said.

So it looks like he was just clowning and it's not meant to be taken seriously.

The problem behind the potential problem of legality is that impossible promises are not effective. The purpose is to attract, not swindle. Impossible promises only succeed in raising red flags about Integrity; a surefire way to lose buying decisions.

I wish I lived in that universe. The sky of your world must indeed be a sight to behold.

There are an amazing number of people to whom the result is of negligible interest, as the swindle is the real payoff. They simply enjoy being or pretending to be a wiseguy (in the criminal sense of the word).

There is a huge difference between the two.

The first one is not ok.
The second one is.

My simple rule is to not use any situation / circumstance that cannot be proven.

The first one is a fantasy and impossible to proove.
The second one could arguably be proven to be true.

So as long as someone has done what you claim is impossible, then you can promise whatever you like, but as long as you add,,,,it might not happen for you in legal jargon.

Apparently you haven't been reading many mega headline sales pages. Or "Does Any Other Pot Want to Call The Kettle Black?!"

"Who Else" thanks to the wonderful truthiness of IM translates out to "you'd be the first."


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Never discussed ...a hundred and fifty times before, more like. Inside your mom's basement doesn't make you an insider, sorry.


"The Amazing Money-Making Secrets of a 28-year-old Convicted Felon Who Earns More Money Per Year Than The CEOs of FedEx ... eBay ... Amazon.com ... Time Warner ... Apple Computer ... McDonalds ... Microsoft ... Nike ... Yahoo ... Ford Motor Company ... General Motors ... and Goodyear COMBINED!"

Uh huh ...the Forbes list just musta missed that fella.


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Yeah Warriors ...don't do that every. single. ad.

John_S is accurate.

Quick resource: Most copywriters I know have a swipe file of Eugene Schwartz's best ads.

Each ad usually contains a pretty amazing promise. And if you really study the ads, you'll discover he packs each ad with promise after incredible promise.

If this subject interests you, you would be astute to study them.

- Rick Duris

PS: You must be aware some of Eugene's ads make some astounding claims, and may not stand the test of today's laws (at least in the US.) The one about "rubbing disease out of your body" comes to mind.

As MrDomains pointed out, the first example is probably not OK. However, the second example probably is acceptable.

Why?

Because there's a difference between "puffery" (or "sales talk") and outright fraud.

Here's an example that might be more illustrative...

Saying your product will make your prospect "feel like a million bucks" is very different than saying your product will "cure their cancer."

If a reasonably prudent person might believe that a given claim is real, true, or factual -- when it's not -- then it may be fraud.

In a nutshell: puffery is OK... fraud is not.

- John

Using "Forever" as part of a health claim, no matter how humorous you intend it to be, is a HUGE no-no. Generally speaking, you cannot make specific health claims for a food or supplement unless you want to get sued/fined.

There is some grey area when it comes to supportable claims like "shown to lower cholesterol in 23 studies". But if you read carefully, that statement doesn't say "supplement X will lower your cholesterol". It says 23 studies showed that it did. A fine line, but a line nonetheless.

The second claim is...well, "cute". Sort of. And being "cute" or using humor in copy doesn't usually work. That's why every great copywriting coach/teacher generally advises against it. It's very hard to make humor resonate with a market in a way that actually makes people want to buy.

Sure, you make provoke a chuckle, but when I'm laughing...I'm not buying. I've been bumped out of my "buying trance"...and when that happens, I'm off to the next page, or website, etc.