| Summary: | From an exploratory research carried out in the Consumer Protection Programs (PROCON) located in Porto Alegre / BR, this article investigates consumer complaints concerning advertising that reach the program and the discourses and practices of its operators about it. Interviews were conducted with coordinators, coworkers and partners of the program as well an analysis of the printed materials available to the public. Data were analyzed using critical discourse analysis The results showed that the demands of the consumers in relation to advertising are restricted to purchase / sale and dilemmas about pricing. We discuss those findings in light of the centrality of the notion of deceivingnes in the consumer protection policy, highlighting the importance of operating with the notion of abusiveness as it encompasses the ethical implications of advertising. It is concluded that policy design is guiding the way consumers constitutes their complaints, including in other instances, such as the Internet. Therefore, we suggest changes in the approach of the issue and we defend the idea of an alternative consumption psychology.
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