2020 Georgia Code
Title 10 - Commerce and Trade
Chapter 1 - Selling and Other Trade Practices
Article 15 - Deceptive or Unfair Practices
Part 4 - False Advertising
§ 10-1-420. Advertising Without Intending to Sell on Stated Terms; Disclaimers as to Availability

1. No person, firm, or corporation shall offer for sale merchandise, commodities, or services by making, publishing, disseminating, circulating, or placing before the public within this state in a newspaper or other publication, or in the form of a book, notice, handbill, poster, sign, billboard, bill, circular, pamphlet, letter, photograph, motion picture, or by radio, loud-speaker, telephone, television, telegraph, or in any other way, or advertise merchandise, commodities, or services with intent, design, or purpose not to sell the merchandise, commodities, or services so advertised or offered for sale at the price or upon the terms stated therein or otherwise communicated, or with intent not to sell the merchandise, commodities, or services so advertised.
2. Any disclaimer that merchandise, commodities, or services advertised for sale may not be available or that availability may be limited or any statement containing the conditions of a lease or rental agreement shall be in the same style as the advertisement and, if in written or printed form, such disclaimer and any asterisk or other symbol directing the attention of the reader to such disclaimer shall be not smaller than one-fifth of the type size used in the main body of the advertisement, provided that the minimum type size shall be not smaller than six-point type in Helvetica font.
3. Any person, firm, or corporation violating this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ga. L. 1958, p. 411, §§ 1, 3; Ga. L. 1993, p. 701, § 1.)

- For note discussing the evolution and interpretation of this section, see 12 Mercer L. Rev. 260 (1960). For note criticizing this provision and proposing an alternative, see 12 Mercer L. Rev. 360 (1961).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Standing.

- Patentee of a weight loss drug who had not produced or marketed a weight control product, and was not a person likely to be damaged by the practices of alleged competitors, lacked standing to bring suit under the False Advertising Act, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-420 et seq. Friedlander v. HMS-PEP Prods., Inc., 226 Ga. App. 123, 485 S.E.2d 240 (1997).

Advertising one price and selling product at lower price is not the kind of deception proscribed by this section. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-141.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 54A Am. Jur. 2d, Monopolies, Restraints of Trade, and Unfair Trade Practices, § 1127.

- Seller's advertisements affecting rights of parties to sale of personal property, 28 A.L.R. 991; 158 A.L.R. 1413.

Advertisement addressed to public relating to sale or purchase of goods at specified price as an offer the acceptance of which will consummate a contract, 43 A.L.R.3d 1102.

Validity, construction, and effect of state legislation regulating or controlling "bait-and-switch" or "disparagement" advertising or sales practices, 50 A.L.R.3d 1008.

Validity and construction of regulations dealing with misrepresentation in the sale of Kosher food, 52 A.L.R.3d 959.

Fraudulent representations concerning price, discount, condition, quality, availability or shipping costs of consumer goods and services sold on internet, 38 A.L.R.7th Art. 4.