The field of marketing is a complex one. Those who work in it are charged
             with reaching the masses for the purpose of promotion, regardless of what
             may be going on in the world at the time. Marketing companies world wide
             have to remain ever mindful of external factors including legal,
             economical and technological aspects if they want to remain successful.
             Looking at these external environmental factors can provide foundational
             information for the planning of marketing strategy. This holds true whether
             the marketing is to target a global audience or remain in the domestic
             One of the most important things to incorporate into any marketing plan
             regardless of its size is the understanding of legal aspects. The legality
             of the world must be adhere to in any life plan but in marketing it can
             mean the difference between success and public humiliation. All one has to
             do is look through the news history and one will locate stories in which
             marketing went against the legal system and caused a company to close or a
             product to be pulled off the Market.
             Disregarding the legal aspects of marketing can be extremely
             expensive(Fitzpatrick, 2004). One example of this is a tactic called bait
             and switch. Advertising laws prevent the offering of one product or price
             to lure consumers in, and then claiming it was JUST sold and trying to
             steer them into purchasing a more expensive product. It is bait and switch
             if when the ad was placed there was knowledge that the advertised product
             It is illegal throughout America and ignoring the legal factor of marketing
             One such suit was against a bank in Rhode Island. The class action suit
             accused Fleet Bank of using age old familiar bait and switch tactics to
             lure new credit card customers to their offices.
             "During 1999 and 2000, Fleet conducted a nationwide advertising campaign,
             offering a non-introductory, fixed annual percentage rate of 8.5 percent or
             lower for...