Erven Warnink BV v J Townend and Sons (hull) Ltd, 1979 AC 731
Citation:Erven Warnink BV v J Townend and Sons (hull) Ltd, 1979 AC 731
Rule of thumb:Do all advertisements have to be literal? No, ‘trade puffs’ with exaggerated opinions & metaphors are allowed.
Judgment:
People are allowed to exaggerate the quality of their products to some degree, and this is deemed to be an opinion and a trading puff, rather than a formal representation.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘advertisements are not an affidavit; exaggerated claims by a trader about the quality of his wares, assertions that they are better than those of his rivals, even though he knows this to be untrue, have been permitted by the common law as venial “puffing” which gives no cause of action to a competitor even though he can show that he has suffered actual damage in his business as a result’, Lord Diplock at 742
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