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Nothing Good Comes From Deceptive Endorsements, On-Air And Online
November 30, 2022
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iHeartMedia and Google have agreed to pay $9.4 million to settle FTC lawsuits over allegations of deceptive ads promoting Google’s Pixel 4 smartphone.
29,000 deceptive endorsements by radio personalities aired promoting their use of and experience with Google's Pixel 4.
And while it sounds like these ads only aired on the mothership (the FM/AM stick) and not posted on social media – now would be a great time to brush up on the rules (on-air and online).
You should also spend a few minutes reading the FTC’s fine print.
Also, this is super important.
Never assume Facebook or Instagram’s "PAID" built-in disclosure through their branded content tools is sufficient. The FTC still wants to see a clear disclosure with ad, sponsored, or promotion.
Meta’s rules note you cannot accept anything of value and then post content that does not feature you or content you were not involved in creating.
Failure to comply with the FTC or Meta’s Terms of Service can result in massive fines or the shutdown of your accounts.
It all comes down to this:
The FTC (and Meta) are looking at whether disclosures are easily noticed and understood.
So, protect your brand(s).
Build on being known as trustworthy & transparent.
Focus on content that's truly participatory and you'll do great. -Lori
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