Removing emotional claims unsupported by the product experience

Narrow or remove an emotional promise when a reasonable customer could take it to mean more than the product and service can deliver. A phrase such as “stress-free” is not automatically a factual claim in every setting. Read it in the context of the full ad and the experience it implies.

Identify the implied outcome

Mark phrases about how customers will feel or what difficulty will disappear. Ask what someone might reasonably expect if the line were true. “Never worry about delivery again” suggests more than access to tracking updates. If the business provides tracking, describe that process accurately instead of promising an emotional result.

Images can contribute to the impression. A person completing a complex task effortlessly may suggest that typical users will find it easy. Review the headline, visuals, conditions and destination together. The ACCC can require businesses to back up claims they make about their products or services.

Compare the promise with the experience

For each questionable line, record:

Suppose a fictional storage brand proposes “brings calm to every home”. Adjustable compartments may be demonstrable, but they do not establish a universal emotional outcome. “Arrange the compartments to suit your shelf” is narrower, provided the real product allows that adjustment.

Keep, qualify or cut

Keep a line when its likely meaning is proportionate to the evidence and experience. State a material limit clearly in the main message. Cut a promise when there is no supportable mechanism or it depends on an exceptional result.

For review-specific accuracy and permission checks, see the separate guidance on customer quotations.

Follow the message through to the product page and purchase or enquiry point. If the payoff exceeds what that journey supports, describe the concrete feature or service instead.