Understanding the New FTC Rules on Disclosure
Lot’s of other sites have done terrific writeups on the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules governing disclosure by advertisers, including bloggers.
So instead of writing yet another post, I’ll simply link here to the ones I thought were particularly helpful.
The examples given by the FTC are helpful, but I will say that in one it makes mention of a Nascar driver who pitches a specific brand of tire in a TV commercial. The example:
A manufacturer of automobile tires hires a well-known professional automobile racing driver to deliver its advertising message in television commercials. In these commercials, the driver speaks of the smooth ride, strength, and long life of the tires. Even though the message is not expressly declared to be the personal opinion of the driver, it may nevertheless constitute an endorsement of the tires. Many consumers will recognize this individual as being primarily a racing driver and not merely a spokesperson or announcer for the advertiser. Accordingly, they may well believe the driver would not speak for an automotive product unless he actually believed in what he was saying and had personal knowledge sufficient to form that belief. Hence, they would think that the advertising message reflects the driver’s personal views. This attribution of the underlying views to the driver brings the advertisement within the definition of an endorsement for purposes of this part.
Really? Is there a single individual in the free world over the age of 12 who would actually believe that the NASCAR driver did the commercial for free because he truly loved this brand of tire? That’s just plain silly.
Overall I see the need and understand the spirit behind the new rules. But like most new government regulations, the overreaction pendulum seems to have swung way past the “reasonable” mark and into “onerous.”
Update: Brad Stafford of INO.com (interviewed here) is co-presenting a free webinar on this subject on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 @ 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT. Sign up here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/525886267
Other links bloggers should read:
1. New FTC Rules on Bloggers Blogging and Internet Marketers Marketing Testimonials and Endorsements Explained from TheInternetPatrol.com
2. FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials (from FTC.gov)
3. The actual guidelines document from the FTC (.PDF)
The Interview Income blog is written by Tim Bourquin and Emile Bourquin, brothers and owners of Ideas For Download. The Interview Income Blog is your front row seat to see what we've done that worked and failed in selling content online. Thankfully, we've been pretty successful but we promise to always show you the reality of building an online business.
