As we blogged about earlier this month, the FTC seems to have spent much of its summer checking out influencer advertising and focusing its attention on those who fail to make the necessary disclosures of material connections...more
Back in the Spring, we posted about a set of 90 warning letters the FTC sent to influencers and brands about the disclosure of material connections on Instagram. While you may have spent your summer trying to unplug, the FTC...more
As Biggie said “Mo Money Mo Problems” – Last month, a New York-based photojournalist filed suit again Diddy’s record label, Bad Boy Records, for posting a photo of none other than P. Diddy himself on his own Instagram...more
A few weeks ago we blogged about the FTC’s warning letter writing campaign to brands and influencers about disclosure of material connections on Instagram. At that time, the FTC had only released sample letters – one for one...more
Instagram is now home to more than 600 million users, including many popular brands, celebrities, online influencers, famous dogs, regular people and regular dogs (full disclosure this regular dog is mine). As its popularity...more
In previous posts, we’ve discussed the Federal Trade Commission’s significant enforcement efforts focused on two hot button issues: unsubstantiated health marketing claims and deceptive product endorsements. Once again, both...more
Medical endorsements can be powerful selling tools for health care products. But if a medical professional has a connection to the company marketing the products that would be material to consumers in evaluating the...more
Late last month, the United States Olympic Committee (the “USOC”) sent a few not so nice warning letters to brands that sponsor athletes, but chose not to pay the “golden” price of becoming an “official” sponsor of the games....more
Earlier this week, the FTC announced that Warner Brothers entered into a consent order as a result of a complaint charging failure to adequately disclose that the video game publisher paid influencers to promote a new video...more
Late last week, the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (“ICPEN”) published three sets of guidelines covering online reviews and endorsements. Why does this matter?
ICPEN is an informal network of...more
7/6/2016
/ Celebrity Endorsements ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
ICPEN ,
Native Advertising ,
New Guidance ,
Online Reviews ,
Social Media ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Truth in Advertising ,
UK
More than half a century ago, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an influential decision in Dawn Donut Co. v. Hart’s Food Stores, Inc., concerning the proper scope of injunctive relief in a trademark...more
Following on the heels of the FTC’s March 2016 settlement with Lord & Taylor concerning a deceptive native advertising campaign, the FTC just announced that it has reached a settlement with SmartClick Media LLC over its phony...more
As was widely reported, the Federal Trade Commission entered into a settlement in March with Lord & Taylor over charges that the retailer allegedly deceived consumers through a native advertising campaign run on Instagram and...more
In a recent post, we provided guidance on how an advertiser might execute a Super Bowl-related promotion even if it is not an authorized game sponsor. First, avoid mentioning the trademarked name of the event — instead,...more
Early in the game on Sunday night, Esurance ran a commercial announcing that it was giving away more than $1 million through a sweepstakes on Twitter. You may remember that Esurance made a splash with a Twitter-based...more
Every year at this time clients call who want to take advantage of Super Bowl frenzy, whether by running an online sweepstakes, offering a special deal to customers on Super Sunday, posting memes on their Facebook pages,...more
At the end of December, we blogged about the FTC’s long-awaited Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements. Along with the policy, the FTC issued a Guide for Businesses that contains seventeen...more
Last week, the FTC issued its long-awaited Enforcement Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Advertisements, often referred to as “native advertising.” For those unfamiliar with the term, the FTC helpfully explains that...more
Late last week, the FTC Business Center Blog posted a short but important entry on health-related advertising representations entitled 5 principles to help keep your health claims healthy. This friendly reminder highlights...more
With Thanksgiving behind us and the holiday season in full swing, many of us will be dining out at local restaurants and picking up sumptuous desserts to bring to dinner parties. Looking for restaurant and bakery...more
In recent years, companies have increasingly relied on social media platforms to promote their products, often featuring testimonials and endorsements from consumers and public figures as well as other user-generated content....more
6/3/2015
/ Advertising ,
Contests & Promotions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Marketing ,
Social Media ,
Sweepstakes ,
Testimonial Statements
Enforcement efforts by the Federal Trade Commission in the area of false advertising have long emphasized the importance of disclosing material facts relevant to advertising claims to ensure that messages communicated to the...more
12/9/2014
/ Advertising ,
Consent Order ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Media ,
Popular ,
Printed Publications ,
Social Media ,
Sony ,
Television Commercials ,
Twitter
Starting next week, businesses running contests and sweepstakes on Facebook will not be allowed to require users to “like” their pages as a condition of entry to a promotion. This practice, known as “like-gating,” has been...more