Using a lie in marketing or advertising is illegal. This rule applies to the marketing and advertising of a storytelling performance as much as it applies to that of a book, or any other commercial service or product. The storyteller Nana Tomova has started to market herself as “One of Bulgaria’s leading storytellers”, which is nothing short of a lie. There is an established community of storytellers in Bulgaria, along with the prestigious Institute of Ethnology & Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum based in Sofia, and until they were very recently notified of Tomova’s false claims she was completely unknown to them. The accolade of being “One of Bulgaria’s leading storytellers” is something that requires some kind of consensus from the storytelling and academic communities in Bulgaria, and it is not a self-appointed award to be used in deceptive marketing or advertising for one’s own aggrandisement. Such a claim is in direct contravention of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Part 2, Regulation 5. Tomova is acting against the law and any promoter or festival that knowingly distributes deceptive marketing and advertising is also guilty of an offence.
A storytelling performance is a commercial product like any other product, something that a member of the public pays for, and the trader (storyteller) provides for financial gain. Tomova’s performances also promote the sale of her book “Bulgarian Folk Tales”.
The specific contravention of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Part 2, Regulation 5 is as follows:
“A commercial practice is a misleading action if… “it contains false information and is therefore untruthful… “or if it or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer” and “it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise”. This includes “the nature, attributes and rights of the trader” regarding the trader’s “qualifications”, “status” and “awards and distinctions”.