The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates, among other things, the disclosure of material connections between advertisers and endorsers.
Answers to some questions are obvious, such as:
You can’t talk about your experience with a product if you haven’t tried it. If you were paid to try a product and you thought it was terrible, you can’t say it’s terrific. And you can’t make claims about a product that would require proof the advertiser doesn’t have.
But some question are more complex:
When I endorse a product, must I disclose that I work for the company that makes it? Is a product hashtag an adequate enough incentive disclose on Twitter? Must I make a disclosure if I return the product after I review it? Can you use testimonials featuring endorsements from consumers who achieved the best results?
Are you a copywriter, a marketer that solicits endorsements and testimonials? You might be surprised to learn what you should be disclosing and how you should be presenting it.
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides…
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (96KB PDF)
Thanks to Jim Green for pointing us to it.
Posted in MARCH 2019 / Chuck Green is the principal of Logic Arts, a design and marketing firm, a contributor to numerous magazines and websites, and the author of books published by Random House, Peachpit Press, and Rockport Publishers. Copyright 2007-2019 Chuck Green/Logic Arts Corporation. Contact.
Thoughts?