• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • getgood.com
  • Privacy & Disclosure
  • GDPR/CCPA Compliance
  • Contact

Marketing Roadmaps

FTC Endorsement Guidelines Update: Disclosing a Sweeps or Contest Entry on Social Media

April 1, 2014 by Susan Getgood

Cole Haan WestFarms

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Disclosure: Not a lawyer. Don’t play one on the Internet. But I’ve studied the FTC endorsement guidelines. A lot. 

Yesterday news broke that the FTC had issued a warning to shoe manufacturer Cole Haan, notifying it that the disclosures used by consumers in its Wandering Sole contest on Pinterest were not sufficiently clear as to the potential material connection between contest entrants and the company. Said the letter (as quoted in MediaPost):

“We do not believe that the “#WanderingSole” hashtag adequately communicated the financial incentive — a material connection — between contestants and Cole Haan,” Mary Engle, FTC associate director for advertising practices, said in a letter sent to the retailer’s attorneys on March 20.

This represents an evolution in the FTC’s thinking with regard to disclosure of a sweepstakes or contest entry. In the early days, it did not explicitly require such a disclosure when a blogger mentioned a brand in a post to enter a sweeps or contest.  In part, because there was no material relationship between the parties, so there was nothing to disclose. And, for the most part, back then (2010!), in text-based formats like blogs and Twitter, sweeps and contest entries were often disclosed as part of the entry instructions. Hence no confusion.  [Facebook only allowed contest entries on pages recently.]

So what has changed? The endorsement guidelines are grounded in two basic concepts:

  • is there a material (compensated) relationship between the parties, and
  • is there a possibility of consumer confusion about the relationship?

In my opinion, the FTC’s thinking has evolved due to the prevalence of contest and sweepstakes entries, particularly on the highly visual Pinterest, that mimic organic endorsements, and do not have clear disclosure that they are a contest or sweepstakes entry. In other words, that the posting is motivated by a commercial incentive, not an organic interest in the product. Quite simply, all these sweeps and contests were causing too much consumer confusion.

The resolution is pretty simple, and follows the same simple guidelines that normal disclosure does. When possible, use natural language to disclose the relationship (Pinned for the Blah Blah Sweepstakes) and use clear hashtags (#sweepsentry) or @ addressing (@BlahSweepsEntry) to make it crystal clear. Using the hashtag or @ addressing is useful even if you also require a natural language disclosure as it makes it easier to track the entries. IMPORTANT: Make the proper disclosure part of the requirements to enter the sweeps or contest.

Related articles
        • FTC: Brand-Incentivized Pins On Pinterest Potentially “Deceptive,” Require Disclosure
        • Update: Pinterest’s Acceptable Use Policy and Brand Pins/Pinboards
  • Why A Marketing Promotion Hashtag Is Not Appropriate FTC Disclosure by Sara Hawkins
Enhanced by Zemanta

Related

Filed Under: Blog with Integrity, Blogging, Ethics, FTC, Social networks

Primary Sidebar

 

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Recent Posts

  • Merging onto the Metaverse – the Creator Economy and Web 2.5
  • Getting ready for the paradigm shift from Web2 to Web3
  • The changing nature of influence – from Lil Miquela to Fashion Ambitionist

Speaking Engagements

An up-to-date-ish list of speaking engagements and a link to my most recent headshot.

My Book



genconnectU course: Influencer Marketing for Brands

Download the course.
Use code Susan10 for 10% off.

genconnectU course: Influencer Marketing for Influencers

Download the course.
Use code Susan10 for 10% off.
Susan Getgood
Tweets by @sgetgood

Subscribe to Posts via Email

Marketing Roadmaps posts

Categories

BlogWithIntegrity.com

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}