Conceptual development of jurisprudential deception and its application in commercial advertising based on media theories

Commercial advertising in the modern world is a vast and ubiquitous phenomenon. Today, commercial advertisements, which by their nature are supposed to inform audiences about goods and services, have abandoned that mission and, by employing sometimes elaborate tricks, aim primarily to sell products to consumers. This study uses a qualitative research method. First, it establishes that the category of deception lacks independence and is subsidiary to the concepts of falsehood, harm, and nuisance. Then, by identifying the indicators of deception, it examines some of the techniques used in contemporary commercial advertising that operate covertly and in complex ways and draw on media theories of influence to change people’s attitudes and lifestyles. In advertisements that secretly promote consumerism, fashion-following, brand worship, installment purchases, the use of certain types of music, and similar devices, advertisers alter priorities and represent false or nonessential wants as primary needs, causing the concept of deception to undergo conceptual expansion. By conceptual expansion I mean a new and deeper meaning than its previous sense within the scope of the modern world. It is noteworthy that in the valuable juristic heritage this term was limited to particular, relatively simple forms of fraud such as a matchmaker’s deception, the misrepresentation of an animal, and deception in marriage. The conceptual expansion of deception yields consequences that appear in jurisprudence and policymaking across various domains. Examples include the application of duty-based and status-based legal rulings to deception, the necessity for the state to confront widespread deceptions that disrupt people’s livelihoods, and the use of the broadened concept of deception as a strategic principle in policymaking across multiple fields. The duties of the state and the methods for confronting and eradicating these covert forms of deception in commercial advertising are also investigated.