It’s fairly common for companies to make sweeping claims in the course of day-to-day business. While this can be misleading, it is not particularly illegal. The “puffery doctrine” covers the line between unbridled optimism and misrepresentation.
From Room for Optimism: The “Puffery” Defense under the Federal Securities Laws:
Although there is some variation from circuit to circuit, as a general matter, under the “puffery” or “corporate optimism” doctrine, the courts have ruled that an alleged misrepresentation is not actionable where:
- It is so vague that it is not subject to being either proved or disproved.
- It is a nonspecific expression of optimism regarding future performance.
- It is a future projection stated as an opinion and not as a guarantee, or which is indefinite as to time.
See also:
- This sort of makes sense that courts must take this stance otherwise they would need to be arbiters of truth which is maybe not possible
- False precision is another form of “puffery”