FTC Advertising Rules Archives - Page 6 of 7

Save Us From the Swag-Takers

Wall St. Journal: “The Federal Trade Commission, eager to protect us from shoddy media practices, issued new regulations this week requiring full disclosure from a variety of sneaky characters. Celebrities are on notice that if they sing the praises of product X while on Oprah’s couch, they had better mention how much the makers of product X are paying them, even if that payment is nothing more than a free sample in a goodie bag. The famous are not the FTC’s only target. The agency declared that “a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.” Sounds reasonable enough, until it becomes clear just how expansive the FTC’s concept of an “in-kind payment” is. The blogger who gets a free review copy of a book and writes up his opinion of it is now being labeled by the government a commercial endorser of the book—even if he pans it. This is not how traditional media are treated, which is what makes the new rules so significant: The government has weighed in on the contentious topic of whether bloggers are journalists—and delivered a resounding No.”

The FTC’s Mad Power Grab: Preposterous New Endorsement Guidelines

Slate.com: “If you’re a blogger and you write about goods or services—and what blogger doesn’t write about books, movies, music, theater, restaurants, home theaters, laptops, manicures, clothing, tutoring, bicycles, cars, boats, cameras, strollers, watches, lawn care, pharmaceuticals, gourmet food, maid service, hair care, concerts, banking, shipping, or septic tank service from time to time?—then you’ve just made yourself vulnerable to an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission.”

See also “Our lips are sealed” by Megan McArdle. “A reader asks me to blog about the FTC decision on blogger disclosure. The problem is, it’s so transparently stupid that I don’t even know what to say.”

Overlawyered.com says “some blogs have mistakenly reported the applicable fines as ranging up to $11,000, which is an obsolete number and should in fact be $16,000.”

New Required FTC Blogger Disclosure

Overlawyered.com has an excellent article on how the FTC’s new ad rules will affect bloggers. Bottom line: the new rule is overly broad in scope, will have a chilling affect and it will be selectively enforced. The article includes quotes from and links to other articles on this subject.

Bloggers & Advertisers Beware: FTC Rules on Sponsored Endorsements Create Major Risks for “Word of Mouth” Advertising

Digital Media Lawyer Blog: “The rules affect both advertisers and bloggers who cooperate on sponsored endorsements. For example, the new rules state that the FTC intends to hold both advertisers and bloggers liable for false and misleading statements made by either party in the course of an endorsement. This means that an advertiser who provides free products to a blogger can be liable if the blogger makes false statements about the products in her blog. And the blogger can be liable if she repeats false statements from the advertiser. Both parties can also be liable if the blogger fails to disclose her connection with the advertiser.”

New FTC Blog Rules: Overbroad or Overblown?

Law.com Legal Blog Watch: “To read reactions to the Federal Trade Commission’s new guidelines announced this week on product testimonials and endorsements, one would conclude that bloggers must now tiptoe through a minefield of disclosures or else face the strong arm of the federal government and penalties of as much as $11,000. Blogs as varied as Fashionista, Wired’s Epicenter and CNET’s Digital Media warn that any failure by a blog to disclose receipt of a freebie or payment from a company would violate the guidelines and expose the blogger to enforcement action.”