FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Betsy Lordan
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-3707

STAFF CONTACT:

Richard Cleland
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3088

(FTC File No. P034520)
(endorsement testimonial guide.wpd)

Are automatic Twitter direct messages (DM’s) making it impossible for you to manage all your Twitter messages?

Do you feel that people are spamming your DM feed?

How many “thanks for following me” or “thank you for the follow” messages do you have in your DM area right now in your Twitter profile?

I’ve tried several tools, some more effective than others,  but many still require more effort than I’d like to put towards it to keep my DM box manageable.

In my opinion, Twitter could resolve this by simply adding a a check box in someones profile that you could check if you want to grant permission for DM’s from a particular follower.  At the moment, anybody you follow can send you a DM…and most do in the form of “thanks for following”.

Twitter tip:  STOP SENDING “THANKS FOR FOLLOWING” AUTOMATIC MESSAGES!

Since Twitter isn’t going to change any time soon…

I decided to make this post to solicit some ideas on how you manage your DM SPAM.  What tools to you use (paid or free)?  How much time do you spend managing your DM’s?  Do you even check your DM’s?

Here’s what I’m doing…

Based on the comment feedback, I’ll probably want to get in contact with you for a little project that I’m putting together.  Leave your comment and your real email address in the comment form (no one else will see it) and I’ll try to respond via email.

Looking for intelligent answers and insights here.  You “may” leave your recommendations in the form of an affiliate link in the comment as long as you identify the link as an affiliate link in your comment.  We’re not looking for one line affiliate recommendations.  I won’t approve blatant affiliate promotions.  Instead make an intelligent, interesting, informative comment.

So here’s the question to the readers of The How To Project:

How do you handle your Twitter DM box and which tools do you use to make managing your Twitter DM box easier?

Your turn…comments??

After 20 comments I’ll reveal a FREE piece of software that I personally use and like.  No cost and no email opt-in required.    So leave your well thought out comment so I can post my solution.