In Contract Law, does an advertisment constitute a unilateral offer?

Question

If person A states in an advertisment states his intention to give a pony to the 1st person to give them a mars bar, -
if he doesnt actually intend to give a pony, but ten pound instead,
is he legally bound to give the pony if the mars bar is given by B?

Answer 1

Generally, NO. Advertisements are generally considered mere invitations or solicitations to make an offer. However, there is a famous case in almost all contracts case books (Lefkowitz v. Greater Minneapolis Surplus Store, Inc., 1957) which cites when this may not be the case. For the case of advertisements the offer must be definite and leave no room where reasonable persons could negotiate further.

In the above case the store was advertising ONE LAPIN MINK STOLE for ONE DOLLAR worth $139.50 on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVED basis. The court found that because the advertisement was specific enough to identify the party to whom the offer was being made (first come, first served), the item for sale (there was only one so it was defintely identifiable), and the price and value of that item (worth $139.50 for only $1) that this did in fact constitute an offer.

This was also an offer for a unilateral contract, which is one where a person makes a promise for an act. The store promised the stole to the first one to tender the dollar. When Lefkowitz showed up and tendered his dollar he had accepted the offer. Once that offer had been accepted the store had no authority to revoke it and a contract was created (there was consideration as well, but that was not the main gist of the case).

Lefkowitz won his case on appeal and was awarded $138.50 for breach of contract on the stores part. The judgment lowered the damages by the $1 that he would have paid for the item. :)

I love contracts.

Answer 2

Generally speaking, the answer is NO. Advertisements are nothing more than an invitation. However, the example that you give may be considered an offer due to the terms set forth. He can be legally bound to give the pony IF B is the FIRST to give him a mars bar. However, this may be subject to the statute of frauds, in which case it may not pass muster. You must decide whether it is then a contract for services or goods and analyze according to the UCC or Restatement (second). I suggest you read about "Izadi". That is a case where the court decided that an advertisement was indeed an offer.

Answer 3

All offers are unilateral. I think you mean a unilateral contract.

If somebody states in an advertisement that they will give you a pony if you deliver to them a Mars bar, they are inviting your acceptance by performance. A unilateral contract would be formed. Offering 10 pounds in lieu of the pony would be a breach of the contract in theory because the performance asked for was conditioned upon delivery of a pony.

However, the offer of a pony for a Mars bar is not reasonable and runs the risk of not forming a contract at all--Although, the law does not usually concern itself with the reasonableness/fairness of the contract.

Answer 4

Depends on the situation, but it could easily be argued in that case that the offer wasn't intended to be real. A "reasonable person" wouldn't assume you could get a pony for a candybar.

There's also something called "insufficient consideration" which is a contract-breaker. This is where the values of the things exchanged is vastly different. This can be overcome in some cases, but it's a pretty strong way to get out of stuff like that.

If you actually saw an ad like that, it was probably a misprint (or that's what the guy would say anyway).

Answer 5

Aikoto's insufficient consideration applies, coupled to implied warranty of merchantability. Both contract elements prevails here. You can not ride a Mars bar....

Answer 6

Joe Willy Neckbone says, “ I don’t rightly know the answer to this question, but I will be right here when you ask a question that I do know the answer to.”