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Home→The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing→C→Carbolic Smoke Ball

Carbolic Smoke Ball

Definition:
A product which became the subject of a famous legal case in 1892, established the principle, vexatious to the hyperbole merchants common at the time, that words and claims could sometimes mean exactly what they said: very vexatious to hyperbole merchants such as 'Professor' THOMAS HOLLOWAY, of whom there were many at the time. On 13 November 1891, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company advertised in the Pall Mall Gazette that '£100 reward will be paid . . . to any person who contracts the increasing epidemic, influenza, colds, or any diseases caused by taking cold, after having used the ball three times daily for two weeks according to the printed directions supplied'. They further announced that '£1000 is deposited with the Alliance Bank, Regent Street, showing our sincerity in the matter'. A Mrs Carlill bought a Carbolic Smoke Ball, used it as directed, but nevertheless contracted influenza. Once recovered, she asked the manufacturers for £100; they refused, and she took them to court. The defendants' counsel made pleas on several grounds that there was no binding contract, including the argument that 'The advertisement was a mere representation of what the advertisers intended to do in a certain event . . . (they) did not, by issuing it, mean to impose upon themselves any obligation enforceable by law'. Mr Justice Hawkins, on the contrary, ruled that an advertiser 'must not be surprised if occasionally he is held to his promise', adding that advertisements of this type exploited the 'credulous and weak portions of the community', even if they perhaps had no effect on the 'wise and thoughtful'. The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company appealed, but the Court of Appeal held that their promise had been 'as plain as words could make it', particularly in the matter of the £1000 deposited as evidence of good faith. Mrs Carlill eventually got her £100 - and many advertising copywriters got cold feet, though dubious claims would remain all too common for another half-century at least. See also ADVERTISING CONTROL.

Cross-References:
[Holloway, Thomas] [advertising control]

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© Westburn Publishers Ltd 2002, The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing edited by Michael J Baker, ISBN 978-0-946433-01-8. www.themarketingdictionary.com. Entry: [Keith Crosier], [1998].