VietNamNet Bridge – Consumers complain that they “have to spend money on a quack doctor and only get worse” because they fell for dishonest advertisements. Meanwhile, the press agencies which are spreading the false information have been denying their responsibility.

 

There is a funny story., After dying, an advertiser went down to Hades where he was asked choose: either to go to the heaven, where he would only have rice, vegetables and fruits to eat, and would have to grow rice himself, or go to hell, where would not have to do anything, but he would still have delicious food and good clothes. The man chose the second option right away. However, despite Hade’s promises the man did not get delicious food and good clothes, but vice versa, he was maltreated and very distressed. He complained about his sorrow, and he heard: “You were an advertiser, why can’t you understand this?”.

It is clear that advertisers always try to advertise their products by using the most ornate and flowery words. In many cases, they blabber about the special features of the products and boast about characteristics that the products do not actually have. As such, the “false” special features of products are even more polished with the help of newspapers and televisions.

 

An Van Bien in Cau Giay district in Hanoi recounted that in late 2009 he decided to buy a titanium bracelet after he heard about its wonderful. Of course, the bracelet was very expensive at nearly one million dong. “I could not see any effect one month after wearing it, and that’s when I realized that I was cheated ,” Bien said.

 

“I thought that once the information about the product was introduced on TV,it meant that it was a reliable product,” he added, explaining why he spend such a big sum of money to buy such a product.

 

However, Bien was just one of thousands of “victims” of the advertisement piece about the bracelet.

 

The product was advertised as 100 percent  titanium and germanium, with associated magnetism stones. Therefore, it was thought to be able to treat diseases, harmonize blood pressure and help people avoid harmful radiation. This explains why the product caught special attention from people who have to regularly work with computers and mobile phones.

 

However, management agencies finally discovered that the product does not have any health benefits and that it was imported from China for only 4000 dong, and resold on the domestic market for 990,000 dong.

In fact, the Ministry of Heath never granted a license to advertise the product, because the bracelet did not have any health benefits.  However STV Shopping, the distributor, still advertised the product on seven TV channels and the sale network has reached out 13 provinces and cities nationwide.

 

In early 2010, a product of Chinsu was advertised as “having no seasoning powder”, “meeting requirements on food hygiene established by the Ministry of Health”. However, the HCM City Institute of Hygiene and Public Health later found out that 30 percent of the content of the product was seasoning powder, though the producer said that the product was made purely from meat and bone.

 

Many people who were allergic to seasoning powder believed the advertisements and used the product instead, all the while unaware that they were eating seasoning powder.

 

Press agencies lend a hand to liars?

 

In 2010 the Standards and Consumer Protection Association received 1000 complaints from consumers about the quality of goods, and 40-50 percent of the complaints were about false advertisements.

 

In almost cases, when false advertisements were unmasked, only producers and distributors were forced to take responsibility before the law. Meanwhile, press agencies that spread false information were regarded “innocent”.

 

A question has been raised as to why press agencies, especially television broadcasters, can “wash their hands” of the false information. Meanwhile, television is considered the most effective advertising tool and people purchase products just because of their confidence in TV.

 

When the case of the titanium bracelet was unmasked, a lot of consumers asked management agencies to force the Quang Nam television to apologize consumers and compensate them.

 

In November 2010, the National Assembly ratified the Law on Consumers’ Rights Protection which stipulates that media agencies that broadcast untrue advertisement will have to bear joint liability.

 

La Hoan – Van Anh