Martin Beck says, “If you hire celebrities or influencers to talk up your brand or if you hold contests with promotional tie-ins to social media, it might be time for a proper-disclosure check up.

That’s because the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that enforces U.S. truth-in-advertising laws, appears to be sending get-tougher signals.

Late last month, the FTC updated the “What People Are Asking” page for its Endorsement Guides for the first time since 2010. The FTC’s basic message — that material relationships between brand and endorser on social media must be “clearly and conspicuously” disclosed — hasn’t changed. But FTC is now getting more specific with detailed guidance about social media issues that weren’t on the agency’s radar five years ago.

That specificity makes it likely that the FTC will crack down in the coming months, says Allison Fitzpatrick, an attorney in the advertising, marketing and promotions practice group at Manhattan-based law firm Davis & Gilbert“.

FTC Puts Social Media Marketers On Notice With Updated Disclosure Guidelines

Marketing Land

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