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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SBMC" data-source="post: 2754294" data-attributes="member: 30040">Actually your statement is incorrect – if not proven it is false advertising – this is actually the very basis of consumer protection. A classic example of this is back in the 80’s Ford Motor Company had an Ad campaign that stated “Number one Quality in America”. That statement indicates that Ford’s quality is indeed better than everyone else’s. Chrysler (who was first in line) challenged this via government regulators and courts. Ford Immediately changed to its slogan “Quality is Job One” which it uses today. After all there is no way they could prove that their products are better – perhaps a few are – but all? And you still need to prove that your few are indeed better.Ever wonder why industry puts so much time and effort into things like getting good ratings from private independent firms. “JD Power & Associates” for example – think about how many times you have heard that name quoted on TV commercials, especially for cars. Neilson (which rates more than just TV; which is what they are best known for). Harvard Pilgrim is rating the best HMO in the nation; that had to have been proven by a survey that was valid. If Pizza Hut says "Pizza Hut is America's Best Tasting Pizza" then they need to provide a basis for that statement; just because you don’t see it in the news does not mean that regulatory agencies do not question corporations advertising – they do it all the time. Pizza Hut would need to complete a survey, comparing their product to others of equal value in a large enough sample set over a large enough geographical area to be able to make that claim. Talk to a Statistician, or an Actuary.  That is why so many ads, if you read the fine print or see it flash on the bottom of the TV screen for 5 seconds or so,  something to the effect of “according to an independent survey“ or “according to independent laboratory tests.” They use independent sources a great deal for a variety of reasons but one big legal one is that if the sampling is flawed a company like Pizza Hut can just say “hey we paid them to do a job…it ain’t our fault”. Thus if Pizza Hut gets fined they turn around and sue the firm that did the research for them (and usually win).I can virtually guarantee that every single retail pizza company (and perhaps even their suppliers and advertising firms) contacted the authorities and their lawyers when that ad came up; why would Papa Gino’s, Papa John’s, Domino’s or anyone else allow that to go on if their competitor really had no basis for the statement? If they said it then why doesn’t everyone else? Advertising for products and services is very different than a political ad where you can claim almost anything.I think this because the bottom line is the bottom line. “Best Year Ever” will always be translated into things such as “Highest Sales”, “Highest Profit”, “Highest Margin”, etc. A for profit company cannot have a “Best Year Ever” based upon anything other than financial data – their function is to make money. One reason for this is that I, as a stockholder (not that I am) would perhaps make investment decisions based upon that very statement; people do this all the time. “Well if Charles Ryan says that they are having the Best Year Ever then I should buy more Hasbro Stock!”. If I do and in the end it turns out sales were low or whatever then here comes the Lawyers. Charles Ryan is a manager in that company (probably an officer as well) – making him an “agent” of the company - anything he says about WoTC or Hasbro has legal implications; ANYTHING. Anyone with the title “Supervisor” or above (as believe it or not titles such as these are defined by law) is also an agent of the company.As I also pointed out earlier in previous posts; it could be just sales, just profit, just margin or a combination of them all. A company could have stellar sales and still loose money; or have a very small margin (all of which would come out at the end of the quarter; in this case December). If say Charles Ryan meant only sales, and indeed they were the best ever, that aforementioned investor would not be successful in his suit (but then again it may depend on who your lawyer is!). Why? Because it was a vague statement that was still true – shame on the investor for assuming it meant something it did not.In the Pizza Hut example – it could be the only reason their Pizza scored higher on their own survey would be better tasting crust – but no one would say that; or even want to measure that particular thing; they want “Best in America (according to an independent survey)” or nothing</blockquote>

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