Advertising rules, regulations and guidelines were comprehensively explained at the Ethics Commission meeting by Suzan Flamm, Senior Counsel at the U.S. Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC).
Ms. Flamm delivered a presentation covering the topics: what is advertising, basic principles of ethical advertising, truthfulness, substantiation, fairness, and advertising online.
She started out by explaining that advertising truthfully worldwide was a sure way of boosting consumer confidence. Avoid threats of prosecution by government agencies or competitors’ lawsuits caused by bad advertising methods, she said, adding that the principles that she outlined were accepted for the most part around the world.
“Claims must be truthful and non-deceptive, and this also applies to characteristics of the materials used in jewellery items,” Ms. Flamm said. “Advertising is evaluated on the overall impression it creates. An advert is deceptive if it omits information likely to mislead the consumer. Advertising must contain clear, understandable language. There must be disclosures if stones used in the jewellery have undergone treatment.”
“Companies must be able to substantiate their claims. The only exception is where they include opinion-type comments, such as ‘Our diamonds are brighter than the stars,’” she continued.
Ms. Flamm explained that all ethical considerations in traditional media applied also to Internet advertising. “Disclosures should be clear, conspicuous and prominent and on the same screen. The reader should not have to click to a different screen to get information regarding information about the item being advertised.”
The same sort of rules also apply to social media advertising. A false review is fake advertising as it leads the reader to believe that the review has been produced by a neutral, third-party reviewer. Similarly, paying someone to write a review of a product is also false advertising, she stated.
Photo Caption: Suzan Flamm, Senior Counsel at the U.S. Jewelers Vigilance Committee.