False advertising

False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or services. A false advertisement can be classified as deceptive if the advertiser deliberately misleads the consumer, rather than making an unintentional mistake. A number of governments use regulations to limit false advertising. False advertising can take one of two broad forms: an advertisement may be factually wrong, or intentionally misleading. Both types of false advertising may be presented in a number of ways. Photograph manipulation Photo manipulation is a technique often used in the cosmetics field and for weight loss commercials to advertise false (or non-typical) results and give consumers a false impression of a product's capabilities. Photo manipulation can alter the audience's perception of a product's effectiveness; for example, makeup advertisements may use airbrushed photos. Hidden fees can be a way for companies to trick unwary consumers into paying more for a product which was advertised at a specific price to increase profits without raising the price of the product. Fine print may be used to obscure fees and surcharges in advertising. Another way to hide fees is to exclude shipping costs when listing the price of goods online, making an item look less expensive than it actually is. A number of hotels charge resort fees, which are not typically included in the advertised price of a room. Some products are sold with fillers, which increase the legal weight of a product with something that costs the producer very little compared to what the consumer thinks they are buying. Some food advertisements use this technique in products such as meat, which can be injected with broth or brine (up to 15 percent), or TV dinners filled with gravy (or other sauce) instead of meat. Malt and ham have been used as filler in peanut butter.