The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) requires influencers to be transparent about their relationships with brands so that followers can distinguish between organic content and paid advertisements. The core rule is simple: if you have any “material connection” to a brand you are mentioning, you must disclose it.
1. When Do You Need to Disclose?
You must disclose your relationship whenever you mention a brand and have a connection that might affect how consumers evaluate your endorsement. This includes:
Financial Relationships: Being paid to post or being an “ambassador” for the brand.
Free Stuff: Receiving free products, services, or travel, even if you weren’t explicitly asked to post about them.
Personal/Family Ties: If the brand is owned by a family member or friend.
Employment: If you work for the company.
Practical Law/Westlaw
Practical Law/Westlaw
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2. How to Make a Proper Disclosure
The FTC’s standard is that disclosures must be “clear and conspicuous,” meaning they are hard to miss and easy to understand.
Seyfarth Shaw
Seyfarth Shaw
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Placement Matters:
Captions: Put it at the beginning. Do not bury it in a “See More” link or a cloud of other hashtags.
Videos: The disclosure should be in the video (audio and/or text overlay), not just in the description box.
Stories/Images: Superimpose the text directly over the image or video so it stays visible long enough to be read.
Live Streams: Repeat the disclosure periodically so late-joiners hear it.
Language Matters:
Use: Simple terms like “Ad,” “Paid advertisement,” “#ad,” or “Sponsored”.
Avoid: Vague abbreviations like “#sp,” “#spon,” or “collab,” as many consumers don’t know what they mean.
Practical Law/Westlaw
Practical Law/Westlaw
+4
3. Key Influencer Responsibilities
You Are Responsible: Even if a brand tells you not to disclose or says they’ll handle it, you are legally liable for the omission.
Be Honest: You cannot talk about an experience with a product if you haven’t actually tried it. If you hated a product, you cannot say it was great just because you were paid.
Platform Tools Aren’t Enough: While platforms like Instagram have “Paid Partnership” tags, the FTC often considers these insufficient on their own; you should still include your own clear text disclosure.
Disclosures 101
Social Media
Influencers
for
Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers
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Do you work with brands
to recommend or endorse
products?
If so, you need to comply with the law
when making these recommendations.
One key is to make a good disclosure
of your relationship to the brand.
This brochure from FTC staff gives tips on
when and how to make good disclosures.
The FTC works to stop deceptive ads, and its Endorsement Guides
go into detail about how advertisers and endorsers can stay on the
right side of the law.
If you endorse a product through social media, your endorsement
message should make it obvious when you have a relationship
(“material connection”) with the brand. A “material connection” to
the brand includes a personal, family, or employment relationship or
a financial relationship – such as the brand paying you or giving you
free or discounted products or services.
Telling your followers about these kinds of relationships is important
because it helps keep your recommendations honest and truthful,
and it allows people to weigh the value of your endorsements.
As an influencer, it’s your responsibility to make these disclosures,
to be familiar with the Endorsement Guides, and to comply with laws
against deceptive ads. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.
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When to Disclose
⊲ Disclose when you have any financial, employment, personal,
or family relationship with a brand.
» Financial relationships aren’t limited to money. Disclose the
relationship if you got anything of value to mention a product.
» If a brand gives you free or discounted products or other perks
and then you mention one of its products, make a disclosure
even if you weren’t asked to mention that product.
» Don’t assume your followers already know about your
brand relationships.
» Make disclosures even if you think your evaluations
are unbiased.
⊲ Keep in mind that tags, likes, pins, and similar ways of showing
you like a brand or product are endorsements.
⊲ If posting from abroad, U.S. law applies if it’s reasonably
foreseeable that the post will affect U.S. consumers. Foreign laws
might also apply.
⊲ If you have no brand relationship and are just telling people about
a product you bought and happen to like, you don’t need to
declare that you don’t have a brand relationship.
