Chen Qing-mei

Case:

Key Words:

false and untrue advertisement, reflective spray paint

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of January 11, 2012 (the 1053rd Commissioners' Meeting), Disposition Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 100265

Industry:

Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses (4871)

Relevant Laws:

Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. Chen Qingmei (hereinafter referred to as Chen) posted on the Internet a "reflective spray paint" advertisement containing the wording of "protecting the license plate from getting photographed," "have you ever exceeded the speed limit unknowingly? Have you ever been on unfamiliar road sections and had speeding photos taken because you were unaware of the speed limit? Do you feel that the speed limits on some road sections are unreasonable; speeding photos are taken when you are driving at 40, 50 kilometers an hour? Now you can make your license plates invisible and drive without worries." It was considered false and untrue advertising.
2. Findings of the FTC after investigation:
   According to Chen, once the reflective spray paint was applied on the surface of an object, the particles of the paint could reflect light (such as coming from a flash) that was directed on the object. When taking photos of such an object at night under lighting or with a flash, any image or text on the surface of the object could not be seen clearly. However, Chen only tested the paint on poster paper and never on license plates as claimed in the advertisement. Therefore, it is fair to say that there was not enough evidence to confirm the alleged function of the product as claimed in the advertisement. Moreover, tests conducted by the Taipei City Police Department (TCPD) on the said product proved that it had no reflective effect. The TCPD also added that the license plate number of a motor vehicle speeding or running a red light could be identified by checking the negative if the photo was taken with a conventional analog camera or by examining the video images if a digital camera was used. At the same time, when police officers stopped a vehicle that had applied the said product, they could use a camera with a regular flash to take photos for evidence and act according to the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road Traffic Regulations to write the driver a ticket for speeding or running a red light and smearing or damaging the license plate to make the number unidentifiable.
3. Grounds for disposition:
   Chen was unable to provide any objective test report or evidence to support his claim made in the advertisement. It could easily mislead people into believing that using the said product could really prevent their license plates from getting photographed by the police. It was a false, untrue and misleading representation in violation of Article 21 (1) of the Fair Trade Law. The Commission therefore acted according to the first section of Article 41 (1) of the Fair Trade Law and ordered Chen to immediately cease the unlawful act.

Summarized by Yu, Yi-Fong; Supervised by Yang, Hsiu-Yun