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ENDORSEMENTS AND TESTIMONIALS IN ADVERTISING
Federal Trade Commission Guides
Background: Testimonials in advertising often misrepresent what a consumer might expect from the advertised product or service, and endorsements often hide the relationship between a celebrity and the advertiser.
The new law: To curb misleading and deceptive advertisements, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved final revisions to its Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. The revisions address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities. The revised Guide also requires disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers, including bloggers. The Guides had not been updated since 1980.
These are some important provisions in the revised Guides:
- Advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service are required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.
- Celebrity endorsers now have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.
The new Guides also apply to blogs and tweeter messages. Bloggers and prominent tweeters have to disclose to their readers any paid endorsements. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization.
For more information:
County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs
B-96 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 W. Temple Street * Los Angeles, CA 90012-2706
Telephone (800) 593-8222 (within the County) * (213) 974-1452
Web site: dca.lacounty.gov