Misleading advertising? How to protect your brand and consumers

The volume of false advertising reports has increased in Brazil, accompanied by the expansion of online shopping and the growth of digital campaigns on dates such as Black Friday, Christmas and Consumer Day.

According to the study CX Trends 2025, released by Octadesk in partnership with Opinion Box, 24% of consumers identified “misleading advertising” as one of the main problems faced in their shopping experiences.

The effects of this practice spread to both consumers and brands, which are exposed to lawsuits, image damage, and the escape of the most loyal customers.

The good news is that there are strategies to prevent your brand from being associated with this problem, in addition to protecting consumers against abusive practices. Check it out and ask your questions!

What is misleading advertising?

Misleading advertising, according to the Consumer Protection Code (Law No. 8,078/1990), is any form of advertising communication that contains false, distorted or incomplete information capable of misleading the consumer. 

The main characteristics that may define a misleading advertisement are

• Falsehood, when it transmits something that does not correspond to reality;
• Exaggerated, when it promises impossible effects or results;
• Omission, when it fails to provide essential information for the purchase;
• Confusing when presenting the data to make it difficult to understand.

Legitimate promotion vs. trap: how to differentiate real campaigns from scams?

There are subtle signs hidden in the communication that betray fraud. If you learn to identify these signs, you will always be one step ahead of the scammers:

Assess brand reputation

Scammers use similar domains and Names similar to those of large companies to generate instant trust. There have been cases in Brazil where scammers created fake pages imitating the identity of Casas Bahia during Black Friday. The ads directed the consumer to a site with a similar domain, but different from the official one.

Analyze the amount of the discount

Every promotion has rational limits. If a product sells on the market for R$ 2,000 and appears in an advertisement for only R$ 400, the difference is hardly supported by real discount policies.

Check the security of the shopping environment

Legitimate sites follow minimum security protocols, such as the use of HTTPS and valid certificates. Well-known payment platforms (Mercado Pago, PayPal and PagSeguro) are also evidence that the operation is serious.

Scammers, on the other hand, ask transfers via PIX for individual accounts or offer bills without clear identification.

What are the impacts for consumers and brands?

Whenever an advertising campaign crosses the transparency line and is classified as misleading advertising, the negative effects They reach those who buy and those who sell.

Below are the main impacts for consumers:

• Financial loss, since the customer pays for something that does not match what was promised;
• Frustration, as the shopping experience turns into disappointment;
• A breach of trust, making consumers more resistant to new offers.

The individual effects of misleading advertising are transformed into larger waves when we analyze the companies' side. A short-term stock can generate lasting damage to the brand's image and in the relationship with the market.

Take a look at the impacts for brands now:

• Fines, administrative proceedings, and lawsuits from injured consumers;
• Damage to the image, since misleading campaigns tend to go viral;
• Loss of loyal customers, who hardly return to consumption after feeling betrayed.

What are good prevention practices?

There are already good practices of Brand protection to prevent your brand from being the target of digital fraud and, at the same time, prevent the company itself from creating misleading campaigns.

Make every ad impossible to misinterpret

Misleading advertising often stems from a lack of precision. If you have any questions, submit the campaign materials to a joint review between marketing and legal before airing.

Implement monitoring against fraud and misuse

Scammers know that the name of a big brand generates instant trust. The way out is to act proactively: monitor the internet and nip fraud in the bud. Tools such as Branddi they do the heavy lifting of identifying suspicious mentions and fake domains.

Structure compliance policies

Compliance is the regulatory basis that guarantees that no company communication exceeds legal limits. It works like a preventive barrier: every advertising piece undergoes internal criteria before reaching the market.

Did you like the tips? It is clear that misleading advertising is not only a risk for the consumer, it is a direct attack on brand reputation. The best form of protection always starts with transparency in the communication and monitoring of the digital environment.

Do you want to know the most advanced in digital protection for companies? Follow Branddi on social media. We are not Instagram and LinkedIn!

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