§ 255.0 Purpose and definitions. ( a ) The Guides in this part represent administrative interpretations of laws enforced by the Federal Trade Commission for the guidance of the public in conducting its affairs in conformity with legal requirements. Specifically, the Guides address the application of section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45, to the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. The Guides provide the basis for voluntary compliance with the law by advertisers and endorsers. Practices inconsistent with these Guides may result in corrective action by the Commission under section 5 if, after investigation, the Commission has reason to believe that the practices fall within the scope of conduct declared unlawful by the statute. The Guides set forth the general principles that the Commission will use in evaluating endorsements and testimonials, together with examples illustrating the application of those principles. The examples in each section apply the principles of that section to particular factual scenarios but do not address every possible issue that the facts or principles might implicate. Nor do the Guides purport to cover every possible use of endorsements in advertising.[1] Whether a particular endorsement or testimonial is deceptive will depend on the specific factual circumstances of the advertisement at issue.
( b ) For purposes of this part, an “endorsement” means any advertising, marketing, or promotional message for a product that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experiences of a party other than the sponsoring advertiser, even if the views expressed by that party are identical to those of the sponsoring advertiser. Verbal statements, tags in social media posts, demonstrations, depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identifying personal characteristics of an individual, and the name or seal of an organization can be endorsements. The party whose opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience the message appears to reflect will be called the “endorser” and could be or appear to be an individual, group, or institution.
( c ) The Commission intends to treat endorsements and testimonials identically in the context of its enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission Act and for purposes of this part. The term endorsements is therefore generally used hereinafter to cover both terms and situations.
( d ) For purposes of this part, the term “product” includes any product, service, brand, company, or industry.
( e ) For purposes of this part, an “expert” is an individual, group, or institution possessing, as a result of experience, study, or training, knowledge of a particular subject, which knowledge is superior to what ordinary individuals generally acquire.
( f ) For purposes of this part, “clear and conspicuous” means that a disclosure is difficult to miss (*i.e.,* easily noticeable) and easily understandable by ordinary consumers. If a communication's representation necessitating a disclosure is made through visual means, the disclosure should be made in at least the communication's visual portion; if the representation is made through audible means, the disclosure should be made in at least the communication's audible portion; and if the representation is made through both visual and audible means, the disclosure should be made in the communication's visual and audible portions. A disclosure presented simultaneously in both the visual and audible portions of a communication is more likely to be clear and conspicuous. A visual disclosure, by its size, contrast, location, the length of time it appears, and other characteristics, should stand out from any accompanying text or other visual elements so that it is easily noticed, read, and understood. An audible disclosure should be delivered in a volume, speed, and cadence sufficient for ordinary consumers to easily hear and understand it. In any communication using an interactive electronic medium, such as social media or the internet, the disclosure should be unavoidable. The disclosure should not be contradicted or mitigated by, or inconsistent with, anything else in the communication. When an endorsement targets a specific audience, such as older adults, “ordinary consumers” includes members of that group.
( g ) Examples: ( 1 ) *Example 1.* A film critic's review of a movie is excerpted in an advertisement placed by the film's producer. The critic's review is not an endorsement, but when the excerpt from the review is used in the producer's advertisement, the excerpt becomes an endorsement. Readers would view it as a statement of the critic's own opinions and not those of the producer. If the excerpt alters or quotes from the text of the review in a way that does not fairly reflect its substance, the advertisement would be deceptive because it distorts the endorser's opinion. (*See* § 255.1(b))
( 2 ) *Example 2.* A television commercial depicts two unidentified shoppers in a supermarket buying a laundry detergent. One comments to the other how clean the advertised brand makes the shopper's clothes. The other shopper then replies, “I will try it because I have not been fully satisfied with my own brand.” This obviously fictional dramatization would not be an endorsement.
( 3 ) *Example 3.* In an advertisement for a pain remedy, an announcer unfamiliar to consumers except as a spokesperson for the advertising drug company praises the drug's ability to deliver fast and lasting pain relief. The spokesperson does not purport to speak from personal experience, nor on the basis of their own opinions, but rather in the place of and on behalf of the drug company. The announcer's statements would not be considered an endorsement.
( 4 ) *Example 4.* 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. Many consumers are likely to believe this message reflects the driver's personal views, even if the driver does not say so, because consumers recognize the speaker primarily as a racing driver and not merely as a product spokesperson. Accordingly, many consumers would likely believe the driver would not speak for an automotive product without actually believing in the product and having personal knowledge sufficient to form the beliefs expressed. The likely attribution of these beliefs to the driver makes this message an endorsement under the Guides.
( 5 ) *Example 5.* ( i ) A television advertisement for a brand of golf balls includes a video of a prominent and well-recognized professional golfer practicing numerous drives off the tee. The video would be an endorsement even though the golfer makes no verbal statement in the advertisement.
( ii ) The golfer is also hired to post the video to their social media account. The paid post is an endorsement if viewers can readily identify the golf ball brand, either because it is apparent from the video or because it is tagged or otherwise mentioned in the post.
( 6 ) *Example 6.* ( i ) An infomercial for a home fitness system is hosted by a well-known actor. During the infomercial, the actor demonstrates the machine and states, “This is the most effective and easy-to-use home exercise machine that I have ever tried.” Even if the actor is reading from a script, the statement would be an endorsement, because consumers are likely to believe it reflects the actor's personal views.
( ii ) Assume that, rather than speaking about their experience with or opinion of the machine, the actor says that the machine was designed by exercise physiologists at a leading university, that it isolates each of five major muscle groups, and that it is meant to be used for fifteen minutes a day. After demonstrating various exercises using the machine, the actor finally says how much the machine costs and how to order it. As the actor does not say or do anything during the infomercial that would lead viewers to believe that the actor is expressing their own views about the machine, there is no endorsement.
( 7 ) *Example 7.* ( i ) A consumer who regularly purchases a particular brand of dog food decides one day to purchase a new, more expensive brand made by the same manufacturer with their own money. The purchaser posts to their social media account that the change in diet has made their dog's fur noticeably softer and shinier, and that in their opinion, the new dog food definitely is worth the extra money. Because the consumer has no connection to the manufacturer beyond being an ordinary purchaser, their message cannot be attributed to the manufacturer and the post would not be deemed an endorsement under the Guides. The same would be true if the purchaser writes a consumer product review on an independent review website. But, if the consumer submits the review to the review section of the manufacturer's website and the manufacturer chooses to highlight the review on the homepage of its website, then the review as featured is an endorsement even though there is no connection between the consumer and the manufacturer.
( ii ) Assume that rather than purchase the dog food with their own money, the consumer receives it for free because the store routinely tracks purchases and the dog food manufacturer arranged for the store to provide a coupon for a free trial bag of its new brand to all purchasers of its existing brand. The manufacturer does not ask coupon recipients for product reviews and recipients likely would not assume that the manufacturer expects them to post reviews. The consumer's post would not be deemed an endorsement under the Guides because this unsolicited review cannot be attributed to the manufacturer.
( iii ) Assume now that the consumer joins a marketing program under which participants agree to periodically receive free products from various manufacturers and write reviews of them. If the consumer receives a free bag of the new dog food through this program, their positive review would be considered an endorsement under the Guides because of their connection to the manufacturer through the marketing program.
( iv ) Assume that the consumer is the owner of a “dog influencer” (a dog with a social media account and a large number of followers). If the manufacturer sends the consumer coupons for a year's worth of dog food and asks the consumer to feature the brand in their dog's social media feed, any resulting posts that feature the brand would be considered endorsements even though the owner could have chosen not to endorse the product.
( 8 ) *Example 8.* A college student, who has earned a reputation as an excellent video game player, live streams their game play. The developer of a new video game pays the student to play and live stream its new game. The student plays the game and appears to enjoy it. Even though the college student does not expressly recommend the game, the game play is considered an endorsement because the apparent enjoyment is implicitly a recommendation.
( 9 ) *Example 9.* ( i ) An influencer who is paid to endorse a vitamin product in their social media posts discloses their connection to the product's manufacturer only on the profile pages of their social media accounts. The disclosure is not clear and conspicuous because people seeing their paid posts could easily miss the disclosure.
( ii ) Assume now that the influencer discloses their connection to the manufacturer but that, in order to see the disclosures, consumers have to click on a link in the posts labeled simply “more.” If the endorsement is visible without having to click on the link labeled “more,” but the disclosure is not visible without doing so, then the disclosure is not unavoidable and thus is not clear and conspicuous.
( iii ) Assume now that the influencer relies solely upon a social media platform's built-in disclosure tool for one of these posts. The disclosure appears in small white text, it is set against the light background of the image that the influencer posted, it competes with unrelated text that the influencer superimposed on the image, and the post appears for only five seconds. The disclosure is easy to miss and thus not clear and conspicuous.
( 10 ) *Example 10.* A television advertisement promotes a smartphone app that purportedly halts cognitive decline. The ad presents multiple endorsements by older senior citizens who are represented as actual consumers who used the app. The advertisement discloses via both audio and visual means that the persons featured are actors. Because the advertisement is targeted at older consumers, whether the disclosure is clear and conspicuous will be evaluated from the perspective of older consumers, including those with diminished auditory, visual, or cognitive processing abilities.
( 11 ) *Example 11.* ( i ) A social media advertisement promoting a cholesterol-lowering product features a testimonialist who says by how much their serum cholesterol went down. The claimed reduction greatly exceeds what is typically experienced by users of the product and a disclosure of typical results is required. The marketer has been able to identify from online data collection individuals with high cholesterol levels who speak a particular foreign language and are unable to understand English. It microtargets a foreign-language version of the ad to them, disclosing users' typical results only in English. The adequacy of the disclosure will be evaluated from the perspective of the microtargeted individuals, and the disclosure must be in the same language as the ad.
( ii ) Assume now that the ad has a disclosure that is clear and conspicuous when viewed on a computer browser but that it is not clear and conspicuous when the ad is rendered on a smartphone. Because some consumers will view the ad on their smartphones, the disclosure is inadequate.
( 12 ) *Example 12.* An exterminator purchases fake negative reviews of competing exterminators. A paid or otherwise incentivized negative statement about a competitor's service is not an endorsement, as that term is used in the Guides. Nevertheless, such statements, *e.g.,* a paid negative review of a competing product, can be deceptive in violation of section 5. (*See* § 255.2.(e)(4)(v) regarding the purchase of a fake positive review for a product.) Fake positive reviews that are used to promote a product are “endorsements.”
( 13 ) *Example 13.* A motivational speaker buys fake social media followers to impress potential clients. The use by endorsers of fake indicators of social media influence, such as fake social media followers, is not itself an endorsement issue. The Commission notes, however, that it is a deceptive practice for users of social media platforms to purchase or create indicators of social media influence and then use them to misrepresent such influence to potential clients, purchasers, investors, partners, or employees or to anyone else for a commercial purpose. It is also a deceptive practice to sell or distribute such indicators to such users.
Footnotes -
255.0
[1] Staff business guidance applying section 5 of the FTC Act to endorsements and testimonials in advertising is available on the FTC website. Such staff guidance addresses details not covered in these Guides and is updated periodically but is not approved by or binding upon the Commission.