Anybody involved in the marketing side of the business should take a look at antitrust legislation and what they mean for the job they do. What are antitrust laws? They were put in place to foster competition in the marketplace and prevent business practices that take advantage of people. After the Civil War, the government found that businesses were too free with their pricing and production. Some companies that produced everyday necessities could increase their product’s prices astronomically as they were the only ones who could provide the product. So the Sherman Antitrust Act came into existence. It made the many cartels and monopolies illegal under federal law.
It wasn’t really all that effective, so the Clayton Act in 1914 added a few more restraints to what businesses can do with impunity. Three years later the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created to define and punish unfair business practices that restrict competition. Why competition was so important to early trade should be obvious. Without competition, businesses and products would stagnate. There would be no new products and technology and knowledge, nothing for new generations to look forward to. Sooner or later, society would implode because of the repression.
Of course, as businesspeople advanced and gained more technologies and knowledge, they also saw loopholes in these laws. Any talented corporate lawyer can find ways to get around such laws. There are quite a few amendments and additions and re-workings of the antitrust laws, like the Robinson-Patman Act and the Wheeler-Lea Act, and so on. In 1975 the FTC Improvement Act instituted more laws and punishments to protect customers from bad business practices. The protection of the customer has been one that the government has been pressured to take into account since when defining corporate laws.
Of course, there is only so much that the government can restrict. The market system is predicated on the idea of free enterprise after all. That means that it’s a natural thing for one company or person to gain a business advantage over another. These companies and people can hardly be penalized for their success. There are people who say, in fact, that the laws are now restricting business. It’s a fine line to walk, defining what should be made illegal and what is just good business sense.
People who work in marketing should be familiar with the laws or at least hire a lawyer who is familiar with them. If you’re starting your own advertising and marketing company, these laws are of particular importance. Any law actually. You don’t want to sink your payday loans into a business only to have it fined for violations when you open. Take note that under the Sherman Act, private citizens can institute civil suits against businesses. The fines and jail time for various violations of the antitrust laws are enough to make anyone think twice.