False Advertising

The recent SCOTUS decision that found lying about receiving military service to be constitutionally protected under the First Amendment's Free Speech clause got me thinking...

When should lying to the public actually be illegal? 

If you are applying for a job, running for office included, aren't you selling something? You're selling yourself, as a product, an investment for whomever is hiring you. 

Now, the last time I checked, it is illegal to lie about a product that you are selling. It's called false advertising. If I'm looking to buy a product, I want to know what it does. The advertising will tell me all the reasons I should have it. The best example I can come up with is the Sketcher's Shape-Ups. If I'm going to spend over $80 for a pair of shoes, they better do exactly what they claim to. But, not surprisingly, they don't. As a result, Sketcher's has had to refund and/or recall all of them. 

Why? Because they lied about their product, and that is illegal.

Now, why can't we apply the same rules to people? I'm not saying that lying should be illegal. If it were, then anything that is a fabrication (books, television, movies, etc.) would be illegal. We already see that lying during a judicial proceeding is illegal. We even have a name for it, perjury. 

Anyone applying for a job, especially running for office, should not be able to lie. You should be hired based on what you can bring to the table, not for outlandish claims that make you seem better than competitors. You should not be able to claim that you possess a trait or skill that you don't. You also shouldn't be able to claim your competition has a trait or skill that may harm their chances when they don't. 

Companies that push false claims to sell a product get in trouble. Politicians should too.