Laws w/ Bashing On Competitors?

Hey,

Im thinking about doing a sales video using the "us vs. them" storyline approach and wanted to know if anyone had any information about the laws of that sort of thing?

Am I allowed to use a specific company's name to portray them as evil corporations while delivering actual reviews around the internet backing up my claims?

Basically am I allowed to talk shit on a company in a sales video? Any legal issues going on here?

Thanks,

You can get sued. You are better off using generic phrases like "the competition" or "the other companies"

Edit: I just re-read what you wrote, and I have to ask..... Why would you want to "portray" another company as evil? Why can't you just beat them competitively with lower prices? Honestly I can't stand people who use those types of tactics. It only shows that your company has no true value, so you have to make others look worse than you.

Anybody can sue anybody.

It's just a matter of who has the budget and if you're actually worth suing for.

2011nfl said:

You can get sued. You are better off using generic phrases like "the competition" or "the other companies"

Edit: I just re-read what you wrote, and I have to ask..... Why would you want to "portray" another company as evil? Why can't you just beat them competitively with lower prices? Honestly I can't stand people who use those types of tactics. It only shows that your company has no true value, so you have to make others look worse than you.

Click to expand...

Thanks,

and Its called using a "Us-Versus-them" storytelling method for selling products (testing services) online. It has nothing to do with a companies value (someones grumpy), its just a proven and famous marketing strategy thats worked time and time again to build trust, maneuver a prospects mindset in a certain situation throughout a sale, answer any objections, and to sell a boat load of crap online.

You call them "tactics", people like Frank Kern and other top marketers call them StorySelling. Long story short,

Some people with a problem who need a solution want to feel like its "not their fault" and naturally would like to feel like they've been getting screwed by
"the man".

EX: Secrets the Guru's dont tell you... "The reason you don't make any money online with the products you bought was because the Guru's didn't show you everything. That way you will keep buying from them in the future."

Using this technique, it is very easy for you to build trust, show the prospect a problem, and provide a solution of value in a very sneaky way. It works so well because instead of telling the prospect what to think, you lead them down a very controlled path where they can come up with their own decisions ;

But ultimately a sale is made when repport is made, all of their objections are covered, and the value received is perceived as greater then the cost spent. So its up to the buyers to determine if its valuable to them or not.

Thanks for the flame though.

I think mentioning the specific competitor company won't be good just to up one's sales. I haven't seen any advertisement that directly bashes/mentions the name of their competitors. It's not ethical.

You can say anything about your competition as long as it's true / can be proven (or if you're citing a 3rd party source).

A good example: http://boingboing.net/2013/07/03/duck-duck-go-search-engine-fou.html

Anyone can sue you if they will really effort in suing you. You can say anything you want as long as you have solid proof and that you are a hundred per cent sure it is true.

yep, better to use 'the competition'. Although I think there's a possibility you could get sued even then if it's obvious who you're talking about. I remember there was some kind of lawsuit about Papa John's 'Better ingredients, better pizza' slogan' and that didn't even single anyone out, just made an underhanded reference to the competition. I think Papa John's did end up winning that lawsuit after an appeal though.

It's very true, you can get sued over anything.

If you can prove it's true, that's one defense. Failing to mention the competition by name gives you another defense, that you weren't mentioning them after all. Big companies do neg other big companies, but there is a reason they are usually subtle about it.

As someone who has a client who is currently in the middle of suing someone else for putting their products name on "review sites" where 5 are listed and of course the top 1 or 2 are the competitor or affiliates - I can tell you. Dont use the name of the company when bashing a product or you are likely to get sued. Will you lose? once you add up your legal fees you will find it wont matter winning or losing. If it is truly a review site, then you MIGHT not be a target - but this guy is aggressively going after any references that are even slightly negative.

A medium size business can afford to get a specialized lawyer who is good at this and who can get things done (ie an actual judgement against you). Just like there are guys who make their living off of SEO, there are lawyers who make a living from reputation management. 8 times out of 10, the business you bash may not even be aware of it. But the one guy who is, you want to recognize and avoid as quickly as possible. And with more companies hiring SEO people, they are becoming more aware of their online reputations.

Why not just say: "our competitor offers such and such features and the product is $150. We offer better features AND benefits and our price is $100."

Something like that maybe? That way your prospect thinks he's getting a better deal, for a better price, because you look better. Of course, no name dropping.