The Better Business Bureau promotes voluntary industry compliance with truthful and accurate advertising through local, regional and national advertising review programs. Business owners and managers are encouraged to make certain that their advertising claims are not deceptive or misleading. The BBB offers the following as a checklist for internal advertising review:
- Does your advertising make your customers satisfied they do business with you? Your advertising is just another outlet through which you can promote good will and customer loyalty.
- Are you avoiding impossible promises and guarantees? When using the term "guarantee" you should include a statement that details are available at the store, or, in the case of mail or telephone sales, are available free upon written request.
- Is your advertised merchandise readily available? You should have adequate supplies of merchandise on hand to meet expected demands.
- Do you mean to sell what you advertise? Do not participate in bait and switch tactics which involve advertising a low-priced item (or service) to bring in customers, then persuading them to buy similar, but higher-priced items.
- Do your ads avoid misleading inferences? Misleading advertising is among the three questionable business practices most adult consumers consider to be always wrong.
- Do your advertised terms agree with the facts? An advertisement as a whole may be misleading although every sentence separately considered is literally true.
- Is your advertising easy to understand without asterisks and fine print? Asterisks should not be used as a means of contradicting or substantially changing the meaning of an advertising statement.
- Do you believe your own comparatives? You should be able to substantiate all claims made in the ad.
- Would you be attracted by what your ad says? If it is not attractive to you, it most likely will not be attractive to your customers.