Ratio Decidendi
An advertisement can constitute a unilateral offer to the world at large, which is accepted by performing the stipulated conditions. Consideration is provided by the inconvenience of performing those conditions. The deposit of money in a bank as a show of sincerity negates any argument that the offer was a mere puff.
حقائق
The Carbolic Smoke Ball Company advertised that it would pay £100 to anyone who contracted influenza after using its smoke ball product three times daily for two weeks as directed. The company deposited £1,000 in the Alliance Bank to show its sincerity. Mrs Carlill purchased a smoke ball, used it as directed, and contracted influenza. She claimed the £100 reward. The company refused to pay, arguing (among other things) that the advertisement was a mere puff, that there was no offer to any particular person, that Mrs Carlill had not communicated acceptance, and that there was no consideration.
فیصلے کا خلاصہ
The Court of Appeal unanimously held in favour of Mrs Carlill. Lindley LJ held that the advertisement was not a mere puff but a promise intended to be binding, evidenced by the £1,000 deposit. It was a continuing offer to the world at large, which could be accepted by anyone who performed the conditions. Communication of acceptance was not necessary in a unilateral contract — performance of the conditions was sufficient acceptance. The inconvenience of using the smoke ball as directed constituted good consideration. Bowen LJ agreed, emphasising that in contracts of this kind, the offer dispenses with the need for communication of acceptance.
اہم اقتباسات
"It was intended to be issued to the public and to be read by the public. How would an ordinary person reading this document construe it? It was intended unquestionably to have some effect, and I think the effect which it was intended to have was to make people use the smoke ball."
— Lindley LJ
"If I advertise to the world that my dog is lost, and that anybody who brings the dog to a particular place will be paid some money, are all the police or other persons whose business it is to find lost dogs to be expected to sit down and write me a note saying that they have accepted my proposal?"
— Bowen LJ
"Was it intended that the £100 would be paid? The answer to that question seems to me to depend on the intention of the parties as gathered from the language of the advertisement, read in the light of the circumstances."
— AL Smith LJ
بعد کا علاج
Consistently followed as the leading authority on unilateral contracts and offers to the world at large.
Applied in Bowerman v Association of British Travel Agents [1996] to a notice displayed by ABTA as a unilateral offer.
Distinguished where advertisements are held to be invitations to treat rather than offers (Partridge v Crittenden [1968]).