Understanding the "Fine Print" on Television and Radio

"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." This quote by Tom Waits has never spoken truer than in the media and law centric world we live in today. In recent years, the legal aspect of business has invaded our eyes and ears, be it the one-point font added for the last milliseconds of a TV or radio commercial or the voice played back on super-fast forward at the end of a car or other ad. Speed readers aside, I hope that I can enlighten the rest of us in the art and science of avoiding false advertisement law suits by adding “fine print” that no one can understand.

The practice of including such items as warnings, disclaimers, and other various legal terms and phrases is known as the practice of adding “fine print”. These items are typically added in a much smaller, or fine, font size in documents of commercial or contractual nature, most commonly at the end or towards the end of the document. The laws in many countries, including the , require companies as well as other groups and individuals to include certain statements, in varying degrees, on advertisements offering goods or services. Companies choose to add these “fine print” statements in small type so as to meet the requirements with minimal effort.




Another reason businesses choose to add these “fine print” is to preempt any lawsuits or other legal actions involving false advertising or various other civil and criminal acts. The most common among these statements include “Dramatization”, “Hired Actors”, and “Not Real Customers.” These are only one type of warnings given in commercials and on TV shows. Other common phrases include the well known “Do Not Try At Home” and other various phrase protecting themselves from civil lawsuits. Labels and warnings on products also fall into the category of fine print. Companies have taken this to the extreme using labels that include “Never try to catch a falling knife.”