In an important development for product demonstration claims, a
federal court recently dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit claiming
that Apple's advertising overstated the voice recognition
capability for Siri.
When Apple first launched its iPhone 4S the company touted the
inclusion of a voice-activated personal assistant, called
"Siri." A number of commercials were aired in which
consumers were shown querying Siri with requests regarding traffic,
weather, sending texts, restaurants, gas stations and music.
To see Martin Scorsese using Siri click here. The advertising claims at issue in
the Siri case are "product demonstration" claims.
Product demonstration advertising claims often are powerful and
persuasive because they provide the consumer with direct evidence
about how great the product works. But they are also subject
to attack, often on the theory that they fail to depict the
performance of the product in a way that replicates typical usage
by ordinary
