The Scoop on PromotionsProject Support Team Blog

May 27th, 2010

Follow Up to “Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”

It’s official the FTC has revamped it’s guidelines concerning endorsements to take account of the new boom in social marketing, blogger endorsements and word of mouth promotion.

The FTC says it wants to extend to digital communication the same user protections it enforces in offline advertising: namely, to make sure that consumers know when a commentator or content creator has a “material connection” to the marketer. Though most marketers don’t control what is said by the bloggers they enlist in their promotions, the FTC says, just the fact that they’re offering these bloggers benefits — even in the form of samples or review copies — must be made clear starting Dec. 1, 2009. Both the bloggers and the advertisers could be held liable for failing to disclose these links.

At the simplest level, the rules say bloggers must disclose when they are employed by an advertiser or by some third party that would benefit, such as a marketing agency.

But getting free products can also constitute material connection in some cases. The FTC will require that bloggers reveal those connections, and that brands and agencies monitor the bloggers they use in social marketing and set policies for handling matters when disclosures aren’t made.

The guidelines don’t specify what dollar value triggers the “material connection” rule. Legal experts agree that no one will get busted for praising a free sample of a new chewing gum, for example. However, sending a new video game to a college-age blogger could be valuable enough to require disclosure.

Expectation of future benefit could be another trigger: A blogger who reviews a sample of hair conditioner in the hope of receiving a six-month supply would also have to disclose the relationship. Some groups have objected to the new rules and have called for public hearings on the regulations.
For full details visit: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
Source: http://chiefmarketer.com/disciplines/online/1201-ftc-heats-blogger-marketing/
Original Article: http://pstblog.com/2009/06/whatever-happened-to-freedom-of-speech/