American business law in the area of advertising and marketing does not, as I understand it, try to focus on whether advertising claims are true. Instead, it focuses on whether claims are misleading. Traditionally, my touting the book just about to be released as "the greatest book you have ever read, the one book to read during your lifetime to lift your spirits to heaven while putting your worries away forever" in not considered misleading. The idea seems to be that your common sense and years of being mislead by exaggerated claims will keep you from being misled.
The words above between quote marks are considered puffery, typical overblown language claiming outlandish results, much like old snake oil ads claiming to cure all ills. This Harvard Business School article discusses puffery and some research on it. Some researchers were curious about why advertisers use puffed-up language if it always gets discounted or ignored.
Of course, exaggerated claims can drift into pure humor. Here is an item for "digital download" for only $495.00 that sports 131 customer reviews. I am not sure about the document itself but the customer comments deserve a book of their own. Be careful about clicking to buy.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
