Sony Settles Suit That Misled Consumers About Movies

Sony Corporation has paid $1.5 million to settle a class action lawuit alleging that it misled investors.

The suit's complaint was that Sony had fabricated quotes from multiple movie releases in 2001 and used those quotes in advertising. While savvy consumers take commercial testimonials with the proverbial grain of salt, too many examples of companies using deceptive advertising exist to let a high profile incident smear the landscape.

There were several things wrong with the suit, not the least of which is the settlement amount being ridiculously low. Ultimately, Sony's advertising deliberately misled consumers. Even if consumers have been trained to discount movie critic (and book critic and other media critic) claims, substantial penalties should be levied when an organization breaches public trust by deliberately advertising falsehoods.

Sony's settlement ultimately is bad news for consumers. While it is true that a media giant has 'fessed up to wrongdoing, the company that generates multiple billions of dollars in annual revenue paid a fine of just $1.5 million. That figure represents about 9 minutes of revenue for the giant corporation. Such a paltry amount means that consumers are on their own with regard to advertising claims. Some are apparently worth more than others, and while no one is suggesting that attending a bad movie is worth more than a couple of hours and $20 or $30 in actual costs, the message against consumers was loud and clear.

Lie to consumers and your company could end up paying minutes worth of its annual revenues too.

posted by Consumer Help Web Editorial Team at 5:50 PM |