Advertisements which appeal' in news format

No. 191. Advertisements which appeal' in news format. The Commission rendered an advisory opinion inyolving the quC'stion of ",hether it is deccptire to publish an achel'tisement in the format of a news article, ",ithout disclosing it is an achel'tisement, as required in. the. Commission s press reknse of Xon~mbcr 28. 1967. The. fac.tun 1 situation presented to the Commission involved the publication of n column in n nt'\"spapE'r \,- 11ic11 nchel'tisC'll tJ11.' cnisiJH' fncilities of several restnm' ants. ,Yritten in 11 al'l'f:.t iyc form , tho ,';rit(,1111 about each restaurant usual1~' idt'ntifiec1 the chef and/or head '\,nit('r L.!:a n. brief description of how n ('elta in Ineal is prqw,recl. anel contained other factual information conce1'ninQ: the hours durin!::: ,yhich meals are Sl'ITect ,yhdhel' dancing is permitted , ",bethel' cocktails an~ servecL and some general indication of the price range of the meal. In its opinion the Commission concluded:

'" '" the column l1:.;e~ tllP format and hfl~ the general appearance nf ;1 118\'.".':; fen t11re a nd/ nr n rtide for l'U t,lic infnrma tion ,Yl1ieh purports to give an independent. imp;ntial and l1nl,ia~ed Yie\y of the cuisine facilities of a particular restaurant. Since the column in fact com:ists of a series of commercial messages