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Worry about unintended consequences defeated a bill Friday that sought to ban falsified or exaggerated photos used in advertising.
The Senate Business and Labor Committee killed SB85 for now on a tie 3-3 vote. But Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, sponsor of the bill, said he plans to tighten wording and bring the bill back for reconsideration.
It would ban photography in ads that "exaggerates or otherwise fails to accurately depict" goods or services, or the expected results of using them, unless a disclaimer is made.
Weiler said he started work on the measure after a number of constituents complained about mailed ads for surgical enhancements and weight loss. "They are just going on their computers … and photoshopping images, and passing them off as the results" of the product. "They are actually lying to people."
Some committee members worried the bill could make law-breakers out of businesses that just want to make their products look as appealing as possible, even if they may not always look that way upon delivery.
"I've seen an awful lot of advertisements for hamburgers, and I've never been served a hamburger that looks anything like what's on the menu or on the billboard," said Committee Chairman Curt Bramble, R-Provo. Restaurants often take photos of plastic food, he added, because that works better than shooting actual food.
"If a restaurant is advertising plastic food and they are actually serving real food, this bill in my opinion would require them to disclose that on the menu. And I think that's entirely appropriate," Weiler said.
Sen. Deidre Henderson, R-Spanish Fork, asked if she would violate the bill if in a campaign mailer she used airbrushed worry lines out of her photo.
"That would depend on the good or service that you are actually advertising," Weiler said.
Others questioned if using models could violate the bill, and also questioned if it would be better to narrow the bill to cover only weight-loss and surgery ads.
Weiler said, "This bill is asking businesses to be honest with their customers, and if they are not being honest to disclose that to their customers. I don't think feel like that goes too far."