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Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

Here we go. After 29 years, the Federal Trade Commission (US) decides to lay down the “law“. It’s all good, it’s all a matter of protecting the consumer. Obviously internet marketers, myself included, leverage blogs for affiliate marketing, like the products that I list on this site pay me a commission if you buy one of them… as well as the testimonials that we utilize in our marketing is up for grabs in this new regulation.

I’m not a certified legal advisor or anything of that nature, but what I get from the FTC press release is… if testimonials or endorsements make a claim of certain results that a customer has experienced, not only do you have to list that results are not typical… BUT – YOU also must state what RESULTS ARE typical of your customers.

So… if you sell make money courses or tactics… you pretty much have to say “Results are not typical and may vary and most of our customers are lazy slackers realizing that they will not do anything with the material that we produce and are living fantasies of pipe dreams while they sit upon their lazy asses and WISH they were making money while they rave in jealousy over those who are actually doing something and earning a living… or something like that”

Like I said… I’m not a legal representative… but here’s what the US FTC released on their site on October 5th 2009:

”

FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials

Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. 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. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement – or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities 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 Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Betsy Lordan
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-3707
STAFF CONTACT:
Richard Cleland
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3088

(FTC File No. P034520)
(endorsement testimonial guide.wpd)

Well… obviously the internet is buzzing a bit about this today. Funny enough, it’s not because of the FTC site. It’s mainly due to Frank Kern and his awesomely simple way of explaining this whole thing at his Mass Control Blog

Trust me, Kern knows all about the FTC stuff, having all of his assets seized by the boys over at the Federal Trade Commission for his Instant Internet Empire program… simply because he lacked one of those “Results not typical things”.

You do have to be careful. Many people don’t keep up to date with these things but it goes kind of like this. If you sell to or from the US… follow the FTC guidelines. Don’t take my word on it… wait till the rest of the world follows suit… and they will (maybe, perhaps… probably…or they won’t

But, I personally don’t see anything wrong with the rules. Keep your shit straight, don’t sell with your testimonials and make honest and valid claims… and be sure you can back them up. My advice? Consult a good internet attorney and leave all of the forms and legalities to the guys who spend their days specializing in these things.

Check out Frank Kern’s Article Here LINK LINK LINK

DISCLAIMER: BOB YEAGER IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE FTC, THE PEOPLE OF MARS (THE PLANET) OR THE MAGNETIC RAYS THAT PULSATE FROM THE SUN EVERY SINGLE DAY. FURTHER, BOB YEAGER IS ALSO NOT AFFILIATED WITH FRANK KERN OR ANY OF HIS RANDOM ACTS OF SHANANIGANS. BOB YEAGER’S LIFE STORY IS PRETTY FRICKIN INCREDIBLE ONLY IN THE EYES OF BOB YEAGER AND HIS RESULTS SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUID AS TYPICAL AND MOST PEOPLE WHO LEARN FROM BOB CHOSE NOT TO DO ALL OF THEIR WORK, THEREFORE THEY TEND TO NOT, OR MAYBE SOMETIMES, SEE ALL OR NONE OF THE RESULTS THAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR. THE RESULTS OF BOB STUDENTS AND HIS INTERNET MARKETING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM STUDENTS IS USUALLY NO RESULTS WHATSOEVER DUE TO THE LACK OF FOCUS, DRIVE, DETERMINATION AND GOOD WORK ETHIC OR PERHAPS LAZINESS… BOB YEAGER CAN NOT POSSIBLY KNOW WHY THEY EXPERIENCE THE RESULTS THAT THEY DO BECAUSE BOB IS NOT A FRICKIN MIND READER AND THE FTC MAY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH IT IF HECLAIMED THAT HE WAS A MIND READER. FURTHER WITHIN THIS DISCLAIMER, BOB IS GETTING TIRED OF TYPING THIS DISCLAIMER AND IT CAN BE PROVEN BY CHECKING THE POOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR, WAIT, THAT WON’T WORK BECAUSE BOB’S SPELLING AND GRAMMAR IS ALWAYS TERRIBLE… SO THERE REALLY IS NO WAY TO PROVE THAT BOB IS TIRED OTHER THAN TO ASK HIM DIRECTLY WHICH YOU CAN’T DO BECAUSE YOU ARE READING SOMETHING FROM A BLOG POST AND THERE IS NO WAY OF TELLING WHO, WHERE, WHEN, WHY HOW OR WHAT DATE, TIME AND YEAR THIS POST WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN. FOR GOD’S SAKE, IF YOU ARE STILL READING THIS DISCLAIMER THEN THERE IS THE PROOF THAT MOST OF BOB’S STUDENTS AND READERS GAIN ABSOLUTELY NO RESULTS FROM HIS COURSES BECAUSE THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY READING RAMBLINGS OF A MAD MAN NAMED BOB YEAGER, FRANK KERN AND ALL OF THE OTHER INTERNET MARKETING PEOPLE WHOM YOU SHOULD NEVER LISTEN TO EVEN THOUGH THEY TEND TO MAKE OODLES OF CASHOLA… OODLES OF CASHOLA ACTUALLY ISN’T A REALIZTIC CLAIM AND YOUR RESULTS WILL PROBABLY NOT END UP IN OODLES BUT INSTEAD YOU WILL SEE NONE BECAUSE OF THE TIME YOUR ARE WASTING BY CONTINUING TO READ THIS FAKE ASS DISCLAIMER. WELL… IF YOU LIKE THIS DISCLAIMER THIS MUCH, PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO BOOKMARK IT ON YOUR FAVORITE BOOKMARKING SITE, TWEET IT… POST IT ON YOUR FACEBOOK WALL AND CREATE A YOU TUBE VIDEO ABOUT IT… I’M SURE MOST PEOPLE WON’T EVEN GET THIS FAR… BUT HEY… THE FU@KIN INTERNET IS A CRAZY PLACE, FILLED WITH CRAZY PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME.