For years now we’ve been blogging about how much the FTC and even the SEC on occasion love scrolling Instagram posts to see what influencer are up to. This post is about another three letter organization who likes to scroll...more
Earlier this week we met up in lower Manhattan with friends, colleagues and many news faces at the 2024 National Advertising Division (“NAD”) conference. As always, it was great to see and hear from experienced...more
9/19/2024
/ Advertising ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Greenwashing ,
Influencers ,
Marketing ,
NAD ,
Online Reviews ,
Privacy Laws ,
Social Networks ,
Website Design ,
Websites
Just in time for your health-focused new year’s resolutions, the FTC released an updated guide for marketers: The Health Products Compliance Guidance. This guide last issued in 1998 under a more narrow title, focusing on...more
1/19/2023
/ Advertising ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Claims ,
Marketing ,
New Guidance ,
Scientific Evidence
This week, the FTC finalized an order settling a complaint alleging that an online fashion retailer blocked negative reviews of its products on its e-commerce site. The penalty: a $4.2 Million fine, 10 years of record keeping...more
The FTC announced that it had sent more than 700 Notice of Penalty Offense letters to major advertisers, leading retailers, large consumer product companies and major ad agencies to put everyone on notice that fake consumer...more
10/15/2021
/ Advertising ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Endorsements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Misrepresentation ,
NAD ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Endorsements ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
At the end of September and beginning of October we spent some extra screen time attending the annual NAD Conference that once again was held virtually in New York. We heard from a number of great speakers, including the Hon....more
The FTC recently announced a regulatory review of its Endorsement Guides, which provide guidance to marketers to ensure that endorsements and testimonials for products and services are not misleading, particularly as to...more
Avid readers or this blog know that the FTC spends as much time on Instagram and other social platforms as your favorite millennial, but who knew that the SEC also spends it’s working hours perusing posts on popular social...more
12/17/2018
/ Advertising ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Influencers ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Online Advertisements ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Social Networks
We are back from the 2018 National Advertising Division Annual Conference: The Truth About Advertising Law – Recent Developments and Best Practices that took place over two days in downtown New York. We heard from the NAD...more
9/26/2018
/ Advertising ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Claims ,
Market Research ,
Marketing ,
NAD ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Reviews ,
Social Networks ,
Technical Conference
The FTC announced an enforcement action last week that focused on two hot button issues – unsubstantiated health claims and failure to disclose material connections between endorsers and product marketers. In re Mikey & Momo,...more
We are back from the 2017 ANA/BAA Marketing Law Conference, Break Through: Legal Strategies for Dynamic Businesses. It was a great three days in Chicago of educational seminars and networking with colleagues, clients, friends...more
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
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
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
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
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
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