“I want to write that we are the best”
Can I say about my business that we are the best on the market
Answer
Yes, but
Yes, provided the claim is not false information about a main characteristic of the product capable of affecting the average consumer's transactional decision. Under § 10(1) of Act 108/2024 Coll. what decides is whether the claim asserts something verifiable, and whether you can evidence it.
Allowed only if you meet the conditions; miss one and it becomes unlawful.
A superlative in advertising is not prohibited as such. The consumer protection act does not work with a list of forbidden words, but with the question whether a practice may cause a consumer to make a decision they would not otherwise have made.
That leads to a practical division. A vague statement that you care about your customers asserts nothing verifiable. A statement about the fastest delivery, the lowest price or the highest success rate asserts something that can be compared, and is therefore treated as information about a main characteristic of the product.
The conditions the answer rests on
- 01
A verifiable claim has to be evidenced
§ 10(1)(b) lists among the main characteristics of a product, among other things, its availability, benefits, method of manufacture, method of delivery and the expected results of its use. A claim of being first in any of them is information that has to be correct.
- 02
Factually correct information can still mislead
§ 10(1) expressly reaches a practice that misleads in any way, even where the information is factually correct. A true figure taken out of context is therefore not automatically fine.
- 03
The measure is the average consumer, not an expert
The provision asks about the decision of the average consumer. An explanation buried in a footnote may not be enough if the main claim points the reader elsewhere.
- 04
The supporting evidence has to exist at the time of the claim
An award from five years ago, or a comparison that has since stopped holding, is false information at the moment of publication. Stating the year and the source next to the claim is the cheapest solution.
Where we will not answer for you
Advertising has its own act, Act 147/2001 Coll. on advertising, which also regulates comparative advertising separately; there is a separate question on it. This page assesses a superlative through Act 108/2024 Coll., that is, in relation to the consumer. Unfair competition claims under the Commercial Code are a separate matter you will not find answered here.
How to do it in practice
A specific figure instead of a superlative
A statement with a number, a period and a source asserts less than the word best and can be evidenced. It is also more persuasive for the reader, who expects a superlative on a website and discounts it.
A claim bounded by what you can measure
Being first in a narrowly defined matter you have evidence for is information you can defend. A broad claim about the whole market calls for evidence about the whole market.
Reviews instead of your own assessment
What customers say about you is not a trader's claim about a main characteristic of the product. When publishing reviews, however, the duty under § 11(6) of Act 108/2024 Coll. applies to state whether and how you verify their origin.
What the statute says
Wording taken from the official register. Every excerpt is machine-compared against the statutes in our database, so it cannot drift from what the law actually says.
Klamlivé konanie je obchodná praktika, ktorá zapríčiňuje alebo môže zapríčiniť, že priemerný spotrebiteľ urobí rozhodnutie o obchodnej transakcii, ktoré by inak neurobil, pretože obsahuje nesprávne informácie a je preto nepravdivá, alebo akýmkoľvek spôsobom uvádza do omylu alebo môže uviesť do omylu priemerného spotrebiteľa, a to aj ak je táto informácia vecne správna vo vzťahu k a) existencii produktu alebo k povahe produktu, b) hlavným vlastnostiam produktu, ako sú jeho dostupnosť, výhody, riziká, vyhotovenie, zloženie, príslušenstvo, environmentálne alebo sociálne vlastnosti, aspekty obehovosti, ako sú životnosť, opraviteľnosť alebo recyklovateľnosť, pomoc a služby poskytované po predaji produktu, zodpovednosť za vady, výrobný postup, dátum výroby alebo dodania, spôsob dodania, účel použitia, možnosti využitia, množstvo, špecifikácia, zemepisný pôvod alebo obchodný pôvod, očakávané výsledky použitia alebo výsledky a podstatné ukazovatele skúšok alebo kontrol vykonaných na produktetom, či a akým spôsobom obchodník zabezpečuje, že hodnotenia produktov pochádzajú od spotrebiteľov, ktorí produkt skutočne kúpili alebo použili, ak obchodník poskytuje spotrebiteľom prístup k hodnoteniu produktovFrequently asked questions
Is the word best prohibited?
Act 108/2024 Coll. does not work with a list of prohibited words. § 10(1) asks whether the practice may cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision they would not otherwise have made.
What if it is actually true?
Then what matters is whether you can evidence it, and whether the claim creates a false impression even though it is factually correct. § 10(1) also reaches factually correct information that misleads in any way.
Can I compare myself with a named competitor?
Comparative advertising is regulated by Act 147/2001 Coll. on advertising and we cover it in a separate question. Unfair competition claims fall under the Commercial Code and we do not cover those here.