FTC Endorsement Guides: Disclose Your Connections
The FTC requires you to disclose any material connection to a brand you endorse. If you got paid, received free products, or work there, your audience must know. This applies to social media posts, affiliate links, and reviews.
WHY IT EXISTS: To prevent consumer deception. Endorsements are powerful because they appear authentic. If that authenticity is influenced by a hidden commercial relationship (payment, free product, employment), consumers are being misled. The guides exist to ensure transparency in advertising.
THE MENTAL MODEL: Think of it as "truth in advertising" for individuals and creators. If an average person would want to know about your connection to a brand before trusting your opinion, you must disclose it. The goal isn't to ban paid endorsements, but to make them honest by giving the audience the full context to judge your credibility.
HOW IT WORKS: The guides state that if you have a "material connection" to a brand, you must disclose it "clearly and conspicuously." A material connection is anything that might affect the endorsement's credibility, like payment, free products, a family relationship, or employment. "Clear and conspicuous" means it's hard for a consumer to miss. For example, on a social media post, the disclosure should be visible without a user having to click "see more." On video, it should be spoken or shown in persistent on-screen text.
WHEN TO USE IT: Always apply these guides when endorsing a product or service where you have a material connection. This includes influencer posts on Instagram or TikTok, blog posts with affiliate links, reviews of products you received for free, and employees publicly praising their company's products at the company's request.
WHEN NOT TO USE IT: The guides do not apply if you have no connection to the brand. If you bought a product with your own money and decided to review it without any contact or incentive from the company, no disclosure is needed. The key is the absence of a "material connection."
ONE CANONICAL EXAMPLE: An influencer posts a picture on Instagram using a new brand of headphones they received for free. To comply, they must include a clear disclosure like "#ad" or "#sponsored" at the beginning of the caption, before any "read more" cutoff. Simply thanking the brand or using a vague tag like "#spon" or "#collab" is insufficient and a common violation, as is burying the disclosure in a long list of other hashtags.
Read the original → ftc.gov
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