Promotional Devices Considered to Be Misleading

PURPOSE: This rule prescribes and clarifies specific types of marketing techniques used in promotion programs or devices which are considered to be misleading to consumers and shall be incorporated into subsection 1 of section 407.610, RSMo as a standard upon which the approval or disapproval of the promotional program shall be made by the attorney general as required by subsection 1 of section 407.610, RSMo. (1) A promotional device shall not employ any terms such as national representative, central representative or midwest representative which lead the recipient to believe s/he has been selected as the only recipient from a particular geographical area or other similar designated class, unless, in fact, this is the case. (2) A promotional device shall not employ any terms, such as finalist, award winner or similar terms which may lead the consumer to believe that s/he has been selected, randomly or by any other method, from a larger group of persons to compete or participate in final competition or to receive an award or prize unless this is, in fact, the case. (3) A promotional program shall not represent to a consumer that s/he is being notified for the second or final time in the promotional program of the right to participate and collect his/her prize, gift, award or discount in exchange for participating in a sales presentation and touring a time-share property or facility, if, in fact, it is not the second or final attempt to notify the consumer of the offer. (4) A promotional device shall not employ the use of any device resembling a negotiable instrument, such as a check, money order or cashier’s check, in a way as to mislead the recipient to believe s/he is in receipt of a negotiable instrument. (5) A promotional device shall not refer to a prize, gift, award or any type of inducement as being previously claimed unless, in fact, all of those prizes, gifts, awards or other type of inducements have been awarded during the same promotional program. No prize, gift, award or other inducement device shall be offered unless, in fact, at least one (1) of such prizes, gifts, awards or other types of inducements is available to be awarded at the beginning of the promotional device. (6) A promotional device shall not misrepresent the source of a promotional device by leading the recipient to believe that the promotional device is mailed or connected with a governmental or official agency, credit bureau, bank or attorney, unless, in fact, the entity represented as being the source is the source of mailing. (7) A promotional device shall not represent that there is a limited time in which to accept the terms of the offer in a promotional device or that a gift is only available on the day a recipient visits the time-share property or facility, if, in fact, such is not the case. A promotional device shall not be represented that it is urgent, nor shall it convey a sense of urgency by use of description, narrative copy or phrasing on the envelope, unless, in fact, there is a limited time period in which a recipient must accept the terms of the offer in the promotional device. Such limited time period must be clearly stated in the promotional device. (8) A promotional device shall not misrepresent the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. The attorney general may request documentation from the developer, seller or marketing representative of a time-share property in order to verify the accuracy of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. (9) A promotional device shall not misrepresent any rule, term, requirement or preconditions necessary to be fulfilled by the recipient in order to claim the prize, gift, award or inducement offered. AUTHORITY: section 407.145, RSMo 1986.* Original rule filed Nov. 14, 1986, effective May 11, 1987. *Original authority: 407.145, RSMo 1986.