FTC Endorsement Guides

Register by September 30th and take advantage of our Early Bird Pricing!

All registrations to Compliance Resource webinars include five live connections AND the recording of the webinar (guaranteed for one year).

FTC Endorsement Guides has been submitted to ABA Professional Certifications for CE credit review and is pending approval. Once we receive notification of the credit approval, we will notify attendees.

WHAT

The Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (Guides) issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) address the application of Section 5 of the FTC Act (Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices) to the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. The Guides provide the basis for voluntary compliance with the law by advertisers and endorsers and, if followed, help avoid UDAP violations. The most recent version of the Guides has been in place for a decade, but supplemental guidance, released in 2017, updates the rules for a number of areas, including social media.

On July 26, 2022, the FTC published a request for comments on proposed revisions to its Guides. The revisions:

• Enunciate basic principles not expressly set forth in the current Guides but are established in Commission enforcement actions.
• Represent substantive changes from the current Guides, based upon increased knowledge of how consumers view endorsements and taking into consideration the comments submitted in response to the February 2020 Federal Register notice.
• Reflect the extent to which advertisers have turned increasingly to the use of social media and product reviews to market their products.

Comments on the proposal will be accepted through September 26, 2022.

Endorsements can come from your customers, experts, and celebrities. Problems can result from unsupported claims and failure to include required disclosures, among others. Enforcement actions have been taken against companies in many industries. The penalties can be high.

The current Guides reflect FTC 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.

WHY

Practices inconsistent with the Endorsement Guides may result in corrective action by the FTC under Section 5 if the FTC has reason to believe that the practices fall within the scope of conduct declared unlawful by the statute. Violations pursued by the FTC generally result from referrals from consumers, examiners and others, and from the FTC’s review of advertisements in different media. This training session is designed to prevent the occurrence of unlawful practices.

Participants receive a detailed manual that serves as a valuable resource long after the conclusion of the program.

TOPICS

Upon completion of this program, participants understand:

• What actions constitute an endorsement;
• Endorsement requirements:
  • Honest opinions;
  • No distortion of opinion;
  • Bona fide user of the product;
  • Competent and reliable scientific evidence;
  • Experience is representative;
  • Depiction as actual consumers;
  • Expert is an expert;
  • Actual exercise of expertise;
  • Disclosure of material connections;
  • Disclosure of compensation for endorsements;
• How the endorsement guidelines impact social media use by the:
  • Financial institution; and
  • Employees of the financial institution;
• The endorsement practices prohibited by Section 5 of the FTC Act;
• The guidance issued by the FTC to prevent unlawful endorsement practices;
• The proposed revisions to the Guides; and
• Suggestions for implementing the Guides.

WHO

The program is designed for Departmental and Senior Management, Marketing staff, Compliance Officers, Auditors, and those responsible for marketing bank products through any medium, including social media.

*This program will start at 2:00 PM EDT, 1:00 PM CDT, 12:00 PM MDT, or 11:00 AM PDT

**Recording Included

This webinar will be recorded and sent to all registrants. You will receive links to the recording following the program. These recordings have unlimited viewings and are available for up to one year.

Register by September 30th and take advantage of our Early Bird Pricing!