False advertising is the act of publishing, transmitting, and also distributing or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally, or recklessly, to promote the sale of property, goods or services. A false advertisement can be classified as deceptive if the advertiser deliberately misleads the consumer, rather than making an unintentional mistake. A number of governments use regulations or other laws and methods to limit false advertising.

False advertising can take one of two broad forms: an advertisement that may be factually wrong, or intentionally misleading. Both the types of false advertising may be presented in a number of ways.

Photo manipulation is a technique often used in the cosmetics field and for weight loss commercials to advertise false (or non-typical) results and give consumers a false impression of a product's capabilities. Photo manipulation can alter the audience's perception of a product's effectiveness; for example, makeup advertisements may use airbrushed photos. Another example is using darkroom exposure techniques, darkening and lightening photographs. Some manipulation techniques are praised for the impressive artwork, whereas others are looked down upon, especially in cases where others are deceived.^{[citation needed]}

Hidden fees can be a way for companies to trick unwary consumers into paying more for a product which was advertised at a specific price to increase profits without raising the price of the product. The Fine print may be used to obscure fees and surcharges in advertising. Another way to hide fees is to exclude shipping costs when listing the price of goods online, making an item look less expensive than it actually is. A number of hotels charge resort fees, which are not typically included in the advertised price of a room.

Some products are sold with fillers, which increases the legal weight of a product with something that costs the producer very little compared to what the consumer thinks they are buying. Some food advertisements use this technique in products such as meat, which can be injected with broth or brine (up to 15 percent), or TV dinners filled with gravy (or other sauce) instead of meat. Malt and ham have been used as filler in peanut butter. Non-meat fillers may be high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value; one example is a cereal binder, which usually contains flour and oatmeal. Some products may come in a large container which is mostly empty, leading a consumer to believe that the total amount of food is greater than it is.

Another form of deceptive advertising falsifies the quality or origin of a product. If an advertiser shows a product with a certain quality but knows the product has defects or is not of the same quality, they are falsely advertising the product. Producers may misrepresent where a product is manufactured, saying (for example) that it was produced in the United States when it was produced in another country.

The labels "diet," "low fat," "sugar-free," "healthy" and "good for you" are often associated with products which claim to improve health. Advertisers, aware of consumer desire to live healthier and longer, describe their products accordingly. Food advertising influences consumer preferences and shopping habits. Highlighting certain ingredients may mislead consumers into thinking they are buying healthy products when, in fact, they are not. Dannon's Activia yogurt was advertised as scientifically proven to boost the immune system, and was sold at a much higher price. The company was ordered to pay $45 million in damages to consumers after a lawsuit.

Food companies may end up in court for using misleading tactics such as: