Answer 1:
There is a difference between advertisement and offer and there are certain ways as well to distinguish the two from one another. When there is an invitation to a treat or a kind of public announcement then it can be considered to be an advertisement and on the other hand when there is a kind of contract then it is termed as offer. The difference between the two is very negligible and requires minute attention to understand and distinct the two.
When there is a public announcement or publicity it is generally regarded as an advertisement and these are mainly circulated through broachers, newspapers, catalogues, hoardings, leaflets and others (Singh and Miller 2018). There is no aspect of contract or terms and conditions in case of advertisement. This is also one of the significant points that can help in identification of an advertisement. An offer is something that has some monetary terms or commitments or is a kind of contract such as offer of appointment in a company or an offer of labor contract and others (Singh and Miller 2018). An advertisement does not provide any form of offer and unlike an offer does not have legal terms as well. When an offer is accepted and is settled between both the parties it becomes an agreement (Singh and Miller 2018). An advertisement can be an invitation to an offer like for example a job advertisement. The job advertisement talks about the job profile, the company and the qualification required and it is in a way an invitation to an offer, an offer that will take place after selection of the candidate (Ambrus et al. 2016). Offer is thereby a contract and a kind of terms and contract between two parties (Menon and Vijayaraghavan 2016). It is also a kind of deal. When there is an approach to invite someone to make an offer it is generally advertisement. Advertisements are catchy, gets a lot of attention and highlight but it is always an invitation and on the other hand an offer is primarily a contract (Menon and Vijayaraghavan 2016). An advertisement is a way of promotion as well whereas offers are not a way of promotion and is meant to be deal between two parties.
These are thereby some of the points that help in distinguish an advertisement from an offer and also helps us to pick the right one as per need.
Answer 2:
Distinction between an offer and an advertisement is important since the distinction helps in having a clear understanding about the two (Ambrus et al. 2016). The distinction is also important to know if we are entering into an agreement or a contract and thereby act accordingly. If the distinction is not known then one can misinterpret an offer to be an advertisement and thereby can unknowingly accept the terms and conditions which are not good for the individual (Ambrus et al. 2016). The distinction is important to differentiate the two and also to prompt according to the distinction. It also helps one to comprehend the legal terms and objectives and then act according to that (Menon and Vijayaraghavan 2016). It is also important for one to have a clear idea before entering into a contract in case of an offer (Menon and Vijayaraghavan 2016). It is also important from the point of perspective of the buyer so that a clear knowledge is there about the two. For example distinguishing an advertisement of an apparel company with headline 50% off and an offer that is the terms of conditions about the discount is important (Ambrus et al. 2016). The offer can be known only while going to make the purchase unlike in case of advertisement.
Reference:
Menon, P. and Vijayaraghavan, P., 2016. Exchange Offer as a Sales Promotion Tool for Consumer Durables: A Content Analysis of Indian Print Advertisement. In Thriving in a New World Economy (pp. 256-257). Springer, Cham.
Singh, H. and Miller, C., FMR LLC, 2018. Systems and methods for context based engagement in advertisement. U.S. Patent Application 15/619,940.
Ambrus, A., Calvano, E. and Reisinger, M., 2016. Either or both competition: A" two-sided" theory of advertising with overlapping viewerships. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 8(3), pp.189-222.
