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The curious case of the carbolic smoke ball was developed between swirling fog of Victorian London, in the midst of a labyrinth of uncontrolled drugs that offered remedies for almost everything and under threat of death. a terrifying disease.
It was the Russian flu so called because the The first case was recorded in December 1889 in St. Petersburg
C was the first pandemic in a highly connected world : At that time, the 19 largest European countries, including Russia, had 202,887 kilometers of railways and transatlantic boat trips took less than six days.
In just four months it was already global, and peaked in the United States only 70 days after doing it in San Petersburg.
In the end, the total number of deaths was at least
It's no wonder that people were ready to hang on to everything which could give them hope to heal or, better yet, to prevent such an illness.
And many promised to do so, but none with the same security as that shown by the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company or, in Spanish, the Carbolic Smoke Ball Company .
The company had invented a craft – the "carbon ball of smoke" – which, as he said, immunized those who inhaled their fumes against any contagious respiratory disease .
Made up of a rubber ball filled with phenic acid powder. When he squeezed the ball, he sent a puff of acidic smoke through a tube inserted into his nose. The idea was that the nose would run so that the cold would be expelled.
But, in the midst of so many remedies, why did he distinguish himself?
Answer is in this advertisement:
The company that made the gadget advertised in the gazette Pall Mall offering a reward of £ 100 to anyone, after having used correctly, contracted "the growing epidemic of influenza, influenza or any illness caused by the cold."
The announcement further indicated that had deposited £ 1 [19659007] 000 in on b anco Alliance in Regent Street to show Sincerity ".
In addition to underlining its low price, the promises were accompanied by testimonials from a large number of aristocrats and clergymen, the Victorian equivalent of the support of celebrities of today.
Everything seemed very convincing, so much so that one of the people who saw the notice, Ms. Louisa Elizabeth Carlill, bought the carbon dioxide ball and started to Use it to the letter: she used it three times a day for almost two months.
However, shortly after contracting the flu, she complained to the company about the money promised
The manufacturers ignored two letters from her husband, who was a lawyer. Finally, they responded to a third letter saying that, if they were properly used, they had full confidence in their product.
They further indicated that in any case, to protect themselves against a fraudulent claim they required that Ms. Carlill attend their offices every day and use the ball under the surveillance of the secretary.
It was then that Ms. Carlill decided to file a claim, alleging that there was a contract between her and the company. .
Although the company denied that it was true, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.
Contract?
The company and its owner, Frederick Roe, appealed. They put forward almost every imaginable reason why it was not possible that there was a contract between them and Mrs. Carlill.
Among the two arguments were distinguished:
First, they said that the advertisement was "" advertising hype " – a figure that refers to cases such as modern toothpaste advertisements that say things like "leave teeth whiter than white."
Affirmations of this type have no legal consequence since it is badumed that the public understands that it is about absurd sentences .
For the company, after saying that if after using their product somehow One was sick, they were going to pay him £ 100 was obviously or what to say .
However, the judges considered that the fact that the company had announced that it had deposited £ 1,000 to show that it was serious meant that they allege "the hype of advertising" .
Second, the defense argued that it could not be considered an offer because had been made to everyone.
Again, the court was not in agreement: you can make an offer to the world in general, which results in contracts that with those who fulfill the conditions of it.
It was clear and for a group; we could consider that anyone who has met the conditions has accepted.
It was not even necessary for those who accepted the offer to declare that they had done so.
One of the judges, Lord Bowen, expressed it as follows:
" IF ] announced to the world that my dog is lost, and that whoever brings it back to a particular place will receive ] a reward Should I expect that all ] police officers or other persons who are engaged in find lost dogs write me a note saying that They accepted my proposal? "
. Once again, the judges supported the plaintiff and her victory contributed significantly to defining the relationship between the companies, their products and their clients.
By unanimously deciding in favor of Mrs. Carlill, the English courts set a precedent with respect to unilateral contracts which continued to inform the legal doctrines of the United States. offer and acceptance, consideration, misrepresentation and wagering. 19659005] However, this is only when the scandal of the thalidomide drug – which caused thousands of baby births with phocomelia during its marketing between 1957 and 1963 – that it There was a clear statutory improvement of the rights. of the consumer, with the Law of Medicines of 1968 and the Law of Descriptions Commerciales that same year.
What happened to the protagonists?
After the trial, one would think that the coal smoke company would have gone bankrupt, because thousands of people who had bought the device had the right to claim £ 100 for head.
But that did not happen at all.
Roe formed a new company and promptly published a new advertisement in the newspaper Illustrated London News skilfully taking advantage of his defeat in court to his advantage .
] He begins by describing the previous announcement and then says:
" Several thousand balls of carbolic smoke were sold in these advertisements, but only three people were claimed the £ 100 reward conclusively demonstrating that this invaluable remedy will prevent and cure the aforementioned diseases . "
" CARBOLIC SMOKE BALL COMPANY LTD. 19659024] £ 200 Rewards the person who buys a ball of carbolic smoke then contracts one of the following diseases … ".
In the fine print, this time there were restrictive conditions.
Regarding the own ball of carbolic smoke, since then there was evidence that its use in reality made people more vulnerable to the flu (Phenic acid was put in the poison register in 1900).
] And what about Ms. Carlill who launched the campaign for consumer rights?
He died in 1942 at the age of 96 years. It is obvious that his advanced age contributed to his death. But on the death certificate, only one declared cause appears: influenza .
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