You can smell some false marketing promises from a mile away.

There are singles in your city waiting for you to call! This woman figured out the secret to easy weight loss – and doctors hate her! Make $1,000 a day without leaving your house! We see messages like this all the time, on sidebars, pop-ups and follow-up content on websites. They dominate online ad space, and we’re pretty well-trained to ignore them.

Some false claims are less obvious, mostly because they sound reasonable, include statistics, have celebrities backing them, or are from trusted companies.

Look no further than Volkswagen’s diesel emission scandal where the company advertised false test results. Kashi faced backlash over its “all-natural” products when it was revealed that they’re mostly synthetic – and the company knew about it. New Balance’s calorie-burning shoes were touted as a simple way to squeeze in a leg day, though studies from their lawsuit show they may have actually caused injury.

And in some cases, you don’t even realize you’re making a promise you don’t mean. Here, I’m talking about things like:

• A travel insurance company using an image of someone skydiving on vacation, even though extreme sports aren’t included in their coverage.
• Calling a 10-step sign-up process “quick and easy.”
• Claiming that product results are “proven” because you’ve seen a ton of positives in customer stories, though you’ve never done a formal study.
• Using a simple “will” instead of “may” or “can” when results aren’t guaranteed.

These ones fly under the radar, and whether or not they land you in hot water with regulators or lawyers, they might still cost you in terms of reputation, customer satisfaction, and loyalty.

Real-world consequences

The legal consequences to making a false claim range from pulling an ad, to paying a fine, to enduring a lawsuit.

Volkswagen plead guilty, paid out $4.3 billion, and six executives were charged. Kashi settled for almost $4 million in their class-action suit. New Balance settled at $2.3 million – much less than competitors Sketchers and Reebok, who paid $40 million and $25 million respectively for similar lawsuits over their lines of toning shoes. (All US dollars, by the way.)

But what about the cost in customer (and potential customer) trust?

It’s about setting expectations for what a customer’s experience with you will be like. “All promises, broken or fulfilled, establish a personal relationship,” writes design consultant Dan Formosa for Fast Company.

That relationship is largely based on what we tell a customer our product or service will do for them, and what it actually does for them. And when the two don’t line up?

First, expect customers to feel some negative emotions. Disappointment. Anger. Confusion. Frustration. That’s a problem, because even if they’re momentary and fleeting, negative emotions tend to stick with us for longer, and be more memorable, than positive ones.

Then there are actions those customers may take. Maybe they make a return, or take their business elsewhere. There’s no shortage of options for most consumer products and services.

They can also get vocal about how they were let down. These stories do surface. Studies show we overwhelmingly research our options for large purchases online, often relying on reviews from friends, family, and strangers alike to help us make that final decision. That one negative experience can influence thousands of other potential buyers if it isn’t balanced out by positive reviews that show a it’s a one-off, very rare, or situational occurrence.

A high-profile broken promise could also lead to some pretty bad press. Look no further than the infamous FYRE Festival for an example of when a promise didn’t live up to its delivery. Or video game No Man’s Sky, which hyped an open universe of beautiful worlds – over 18 quintillion planets, to be precise – to explore and unending gameplay to be had, but delivered repetitive experience that just wasn’t fun, according to many critics.

We’ll never be able to guarantee a positive reaction to every message, or that our message will be 100% in line with every experience. We can’t please everybody, and we aren’t psychic. For Formosa, that means tilting the scales in favour of honesty: being a bit more careful about the expectations we set and the promises we make, and over-delivering on our products.

“It means the product itself better be great. Not just good, but exceptionally great, because that’s when we make purchase recommendations to each other, or else forewarn others about an unfortunate purchase,” he writes.

“As for brand promises, to survive in the critical arena of real-consumers-as-reviewers, products shouldn’t just meet our expectations, they better exceed them.”

Consumer protections in Canada

Even if you’re not making outlandish claims about your products or nefariously plotting to pull one over on your customers, getting familiar with consumer protection guidelines can help you make better decisions about how you talk about your company and what you’re selling.

Canada’s Competition Act protects Canadians from “misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices” that might influence them to buy your product or use your service.

It goes beyond the literal meaning of your messages to consider the “general impression” they create. Penalties are harsher the longer you run that message and the larger the audience you reach.

In addition to targeting false and misleading representations, it also covers:

• Performance representations that are not based on adequate and proper tests
• Misleading warranties and guarantees
• False or misleading ordinary selling price representations
• Untrue, misleading or unauthorized use of tests and testimonials
• Bait and switch selling
• The sale of a product above its advertised price

It’s a good reference to test your marketing against, at the very least.

Double-check those promises

I’ve had the good fortune of working alongside extremely talented legal and regulatory experts when it comes to marketing in a responsible way. Treading carefully is everyday life in a marketing department of a large financial company, in a heavily regulated (and litigious) industry. So I’ve learned a few tricks.

First, be honest. Your messages are not only promoting your product, but setting an expectation. Think about what your customer’s actual experience will be.

Second, poke holes in your own writing. Making a claim? Make sure it’s backed up by research. What research? A study from a trustworthy source. How do you know it’s a trustworthy source? What were the parameters of the study? Play the skeptic and question everything – because others will even if you don’t.

Third, get to know the differences between “will,” “may,” and “can” (and their past-tense counterparts, “would,” “might,” and “could.”) “Will” is a guarantee, “can” speaks to ability, and “may” means potential. These simple words were the biggest offenders on my teams, and we were experienced writers, so it’s a tough one to get right.

Finally, listen to your team. If you run your work past a legal, compliance or regulatory representative, remember they’re not there to sabotage your snazzy marketing message. They’re there to make sure you don’t get into trouble. You’re all on the same team, and putting your heads together can result in something even better that works for everyone (and covers your buns.)