People thinking of marketing their products in Sweden need to beware of that country’s rather arcane sense of humour, as Motorola Inc has found to its cost: back in March, it claimed in ads that its new Traveller car phone offered superior technology that gives you the market’s best car phone at the market’s lowest price, and it was nearly 40% cheaper than rival offerings of L M Ericsson Telefon AB and Nokia Oy – but the claim still riled the local competitors so much that they complained to the Marketing Tribunal, which ruled that Motorola either justify the claim by giving all the technical details that enabled it to cut the cost – trade secrets to you, me and back home in Schaumberg, Illinois – pay a $17,000 fine or withdraw the ad; Motorola withdraw the ad, no doubt muttering imprecations about Nords who take themselves too seriously.
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