Advertising in Georgia is a distinct legislative field: the Law of Georgia on Advertising governs the production, placement and distribution of advertising on the goods, services and financial markets, and assigns to every participant in the process — the advertising customer, the producer and the distributor — its own role and responsibilities.
Legal Basis and the Purpose of the Law
Under Article 1, the advertising legislation of Georgia consists of the Constitution of Georgia, international treaties and agreements, this law, and other legislative and normative acts of Georgia. Article 2 defines the scope: the law regulates the legal relations arising in the production, placement and distribution of advertising on Georgia's goods and financial markets, the securities market included. Its purpose is the development of healthy competition in the advertising sphere, the protection of the public interest, of the rights of advertising subjects and of consumers, and the prevention and interdiction of improper advertising. The boundaries are drawn here as well: the law does not apply to political advertising. The same article allocates competence: broadcast advertising and sponsorship are regulated by the Law on Broadcasting, while the general requirements for advertising, the advertising of alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pharmaceutical products, weapons and securities, and the protection of minors are regulated by this law.
Core Terms and the Roles of the Participants
Article 3 builds the vocabulary of advertising law. An advertisement is information distributed in any means and form about goods, natural and legal persons, ideas and initiatives, aimed at an indefinite circle of persons. Improper advertising is the object of state interdiction and unites dishonest, unreliable, unethical and misleading advertising — advertising in which the requirements as to content, time, place or manner of distribution are violated. Dishonest advertising contains incorrect comparisons with the goods of other persons and statements disparaging a competitor's name, dignity or reputation; unreliable advertising contains data inconsistent with reality about the customer and the properties of the goods; unethical advertising employs insulting words and comparisons based on nationality, race, religion and other characteristics. Misleading advertising deliberately deceives the consumer and is capable of harming a competitor. The roles of the participants are named here as well: the advertising customer is the source of the advertising information; the producer gives it its ready form; the distributor places and distributes it; the consumer is the person to whom the information is directed. The terms include specific categories: for example, hard-liquor advertising is advertising of an alcoholic beverage in which the spirit content exceeds fourteen percent.