In Dedication of…
 

Crossing the Line into Foul Territory 

There once was a poor struggling shoe salesman named Yankele who owned a small shoe store. One day, to his great dismay, a competitor moved in right next door. His new neighbor set up a huge

factory outlet shoe store.  On the front of the store, in giant letters, hung a sign that read, “CHEAPEST SHOES IN TOWN”.  A few days later, Yankele’s blood pressure rose again.  Another massive factory outlet shoe store opened up for business on the other side of Yankele’s shop. That store, too, brandished a gigantic sign. It read, “HIGHEST QUALITY SHOES IN TOWN”. Yankele was beside himself.  He ran to the Rabbi. “How can I save my parnassa?” he cried. The Rabbi responded, “Simple. Put a sign above your door —‘MAIN ENTRANCE'”.

Innovative marketing strategies
and techniques are crucial to the success of a business.  Sometimes, in fact, they can even save lives.
When Yaakov Avinu was under hot pursuit by his wicked brother Eisav, he devised
a plan to appease him. Yaakov presented Eisav with a large gift of various
flocks of animals.  But Yaakov did not
suffice with that. Rashi (Breishis 32,17) explains that Yaakov spread out the
animals in a manner that would make the gift seem much larger than it was.  And he was successful. Eisav left him alone.
Yaakov’s act seems questionable. Was he, in fact, permitted to commit such a
deception, or was it illegal trickery?

In order to examine this point, a
basic introduction is necessary.  Let us
take the manufacturing of food products as an illustration. It is forbidden to
claim an item contains ingredients that in reality are not there. For instance,
carrots can be prepared by an expert in order to duplicate the taste of wine. It
is forbidden for a manufacturer to sell his carrot concoction on the pretense
that it is wine made from grapes. In another example, a company marketing baked
goods devised a way to replicate the taste of apples using squash. It is
forbidden to write on the package “APPLE PIE” if it contains no
apples.

After it has been established that the product has all the ingredients
the manufacturer claims, another problem must be addressed. Generally, a company
seeks to increase sales by clever advertising. When marketing a product, how
much can one praise it? Can one exaggerate its qualities?  On every trip to the supermarket, customers are bombarded with
advertising that seeks to attract their attention and their dollars.
“ALL-NATURAL”, “HEALTHY SNACK”, “LOWEST PRICE”, “BEST TASTE”, etc., etc.  Which claims are acceptable, and which claims
are forbidden?

In addition, a seller tries to
spruce up his product and give it its best face. The Mishnah (Bava Metzia 4:12)
forbids “dressing up” a product to appear to be of better quality than it
actually is. How far does this go? What’s allowed, and what
isn’t?

Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe,
Yoreh Deah 1,31) gives a basic guideline. 
It is permitted to present a product in a way that improves its look or
feel if everyone knows that doing so is a common practice in that industry.
However, if many people might be misled, it is forbidden. For instance, one is
allowed to sell meat that has had fat smeared on it in order to improve its
appearance if that is a well-known practice among butchers. Even though the meat
appears to be better than it really is, a buyer knows that even cheap cuts of
meat are treated with a glossy finish. If he cares to know the exact quality or
freshness of the meat he can find out by asking the butcher who would be
obligated to tell him.

 Similarly, if a label advertizes
“BEST QUALITY”, “CHEAPEST”, “TASTIEST” etc., every purchaser realizes that such
claims are highly suspect. Everyone makes those kind of claims! He knows that he
still needs to investigate and research the validity of these statements. If he
cares, he will look into it. And if he does not check, apparently it does not
matter to him that much. And if he does care, but did not bother checking
carefully, he has no one to blame but himself. A seller is not obligated to
reveal a piece of information that the customer could discover by simply
inquiring about it.

In contrast to these previous
examples which were permitted, let us now look at a case which crosses the line
into forbidden territory. Several years ago, someone came up with a clever
scheme. He marketed a battery with a black and gold cover. On the top, he
embossed the name “DURASELL,” and he marked it down to way below the regular
market price for that kind of battery. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the
customer thought he had made a great deal when, in fact, he had been sold a
highly inferior battery. He assumed that he had bought a “DURACELL” when in fact
he got a “DURASELL”. If the customer looks at the

product and has no clear indication that the product is not what he would normally assume it to be, it is forbidden. It is irrelevant that it says in clear lettering “DURASELL”.  The average consumer would not be aware of this distinction.

Applying what we have learned to Yaakov Avinu’s artful presentation of the herds
of animals to Eisav, we can now understand why that was a permissible type of
marketing. Eisav had every opportunity to discover the true size of the gift. In
his greed and desire to receive the gift, he deceived himself.

The Vilna Gaon writes in Yoshiah 1,17 that every Dayan needs two qualities:
Torah knowledge and street-smarts. The same is true for every businessman and
consumer. Both need to know how much the Torah allows in embellishing a product,
and where is the foul line between permitted advertisement and illegal
deception. As we all know, finding that line is made even harder when one’s own
interests are at stake. So, when a question arises and one thinks that he may be
stepping out of bounds, the honest thing to do is to ask. An expert in Chosen
Mishpat can offer impartial and fair guidance which will keep you on the right
side of the line.