• MSNBC, Friday, January 16, 2009 11 AM

I am always amused by the way some marketers leap off the Good Ship Advertising at the first sign of floating ice. The cigarette industry did it for years, claiming its advertising only influenced brand choice among people who already smoked. Now, Countrywide Home Loans is apparently trying to disassociate what it says it does in its advertising from what it actually does in reality by claiming that its ads are "mere commercial puffery."

The mortgage company has repeatedly said in multiple venues that it is working hard to modify the mortgages of borrowers caught up in the subprime meltdown, Mike Stuckey reports. But a couple says they lost the home of their dreams in Canterbury, N.H., after Countrywide strung them along for eight months in the belief their loans could be modified. Then, they say, Countrywide said "no dice."

The lawsuit alleges breach of good faith, fraud, negligence and misrepresentation. Saying the modification offers are "only Countrywide's vague advertisements," attorneys for the lender are asking the court to throw it out. In claiming "puffery," which law dictionaries define as a statement of opinion rather than fact, Countrywide cited "terms that do not set forth concrete representation as to the company's future performance."

"Countrywide's offers remain easy to find today," Stuckey points out, "with the lender telling its borrowers 'WE CAN HELP YOU!' get a loan modification in big red letters on its Web site."

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