An advertisement can sometimes be an offer BUT THIS IS VERY EXCEPTIONAL. Remember the thing that
determines whether a statement is an offer or an invitation to treat is the
intention of the party who makes the statement: our definition of an offer was
"an offer is a proposition put by one person to another person made with
the intention that it shall become legally binding as soon as it is accepted by
the other person.' So if a proposition, say an advertisement, is made with the
intention that if acted upon the person making the advertisement will consider
themself legally bound then the advertisement will be an offer and not an
invitation to treat.
In Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co the court held that
in the particular unusual circumstances of the case that the Carbolic Smoke
Ball Co had intended their
advertisement to be an offer.
