We all know that celebrities rarely do anything without getting paid for it or getting something for free. But are the FTC’s revisions to the endorsement guides about to put a crimp in celebrity style? Slate reports that Kim Kardashian earns $10,000 per corporate tweet. Similarly, another site reported that Gwyneth Paltrow was recently a celebrity VIP at the grand reopening of a luxury hotel in Morocco. Shortly thereafter Paltrow praised the hotel in her online newsletter. Although it’s not certain, it seems unlikely that the actress paid the $800+ per night room rate. Of course, celebrities such as these are not likely in danger of being hauled before the FTC as David Vladeck has consistently stated that the FTC does not plan to go after individual bloggers for violating its Revised Testimonial Guides. However, there is no such promise for companies which are compensating celebrity bloggers.
What can your company do if part of its marketing strategy is to pay one of the Kardashian sisters or other celebs (or even non-celeb bloggers) in cash or with free product? Proactive steps are suggested to avoid becoming part of the FTC’s initial sweep to enforce the revised Guides.
The Word of Mouth Advertising Association or WOMMA recommends educating bloggers regarding responsibilities, require disclosures from bloggers and monitor blogs to make sure the disclosure is happening. For Tweets, WOMMA recommends creating a link to “Disclosures and Relationships” section on the user’s profile and clearly state within the tweet with a hashtag (#spon or #paid) that there is a corporate sponsor relationship. Similar disclosures are recommended by WOMMA for user generated content on social networking sites, video or photo sharing sites, review sites and blogs to detail the disclosure in the editorial copy (“I was paid by [company X] to review” or “I received [X product or service] from [Company x] to review”) and in the user’s profile.
Will requiring such disclosures make this marketing strategy less attractive? Stay tuned.
- Amy Mudge and Randy Shaheen
