Mississippi False Advertising
Miss. Code Ann. § 97-23-1 - § 97-23-5
CITATION:
Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated
Title 97. Crimes (Chs. 1 — 47)
Chapter 23. Offenses Affecting Trade, Business and Professions (§§ 97-23-1 — 97-23-111)
§ 97-23-1. False advertising and misrepresentation of nature of business.
§ 97-23-3. Advertising; untrue, deceptive, or misleading.
§ 97-23-5. Advertising; pulling down advertisements.
§ 97-23-1. False advertising and misrepresentation of nature of business.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to misrepresent the true nature of its business by use of the words “manufacturer,” “wholesaler,” “retailer,” or words of similar import or for any person, firm, association or corporation to represent itself as selling at wholesale, or use the word “wholesale” in any form of sale or advertising unless such person, firm, association or corporation is actually selling at wholesale those items advertised for the purpose of resale. For the purpose of this section, the term “wholesale” shall be defined as a sale made for the purpose of resale by the purchaser on which a wholesale sales tax is charged, and not one made to a consuming purchaser on which a retail sales tax is charged.
However, this section shall in nowise affect or prohibit a corporation from using the word “wholesale” in its corporate name even though such corporation also does a retail business. However, if it does a retail business, it must indicate in its advertisements that such business is being conducted by its retail division, or that such advertised products are to be sold only at retail.
(2) The violation of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor, and any person or firm convicted of violating this section shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).
History
Codes, 1942, § 2144.3; Laws, 1962, ch. 315, §§ 1, 2.
§ 97-23-3. Advertising; untrue, deceptive, or misleading.
Any person who, with intent to sell or in any way dispose of merchandise, securities, service, or anything offered by such person, directly or indirectly, to the public for sale or distribution, or who, with intent to increase the consumption of or demand for such merchandise, securities, service or other thing, or to induce the public in any manner to enter into any obligation relating thereto, or to acquire title thereto, or an interest therein, makes, publishes, disseminates, circulates or places before the public, or causes, directly or indirectly, to be made, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public within the state, in a newspaper or other publication, or in the form of a book, notice, handbill, poster, bill, circular, pamphlet or letter, or by a label affixed to the merchandise or its container, or in any other way, an advertisement of any sort regarding merchandise, securities, service or anything so offered to the public, which advertisement contains any assertion, representation or statement of fact which is untrue, deceptive or misleading, including but not limited to representing himself as selling at wholesale unless he is actually selling at wholesale those items so represented, and which such person knew, or might on reasonable investigation have ascertained to be untrue, deceptive or misleading, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), and the offending person, whether found guilty or not, may be held civilly responsible in tort for damages to persons or property proximately resulting from a violation of this section. This section shall not apply to any owner, publisher, printer, agent or employee of a newspaper or other publication, periodical or circular, or to any agent of the advertiser who in good faith and without knowledge of the falsity or deceptive character thereof publishes, causes to be published, or participates in the publication of such advertisement. Firms with the word “wholesale” in their corporate title are not in violation of this section so long as they identify the sales as being made by their retail division.
History
Codes, 1942, § 2003.5; Laws, 1962, ch. 317, eff from and after July 1, 1962.
§ 97-23-5. Advertising; pulling down advertisements.
If any person shall pull down any advertisement authorized by law, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not more than six months.
History
Codes, Hutchinson’s 1848, ch. 64, art. 1(74); 1857, ch. 64, art. 337; 1871, § 2830; 1880, § 2702; 1892, § 958; 1906, § 1034; Hemingway’s 1917, § 759; 1930, § 777; 1942, § 2003.
Mississippi Code 1972 Annotated
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