Monday, December 23, 2024
Lawyers Run The WorldWarner Brothers gets FTC Smack for Not Disclosing Social...

Warner Brothers gets FTC Smack for Not Disclosing Social Influencers

-

- Advertisment -spot_img

You would think it is 2014 again reading the headline, but it is true.  Warner Brothers paid two YouTube personalities to make videos about their Xbox One games.  They paid as much as $30,000 for these videos.  Unfortunately, the videos never disclosed that there was compensation involved, which goes against FTC regulations.

The game being promoted in this case was, Middle earth: Shadow of Mordor.”  The FTC is not issuing a financial penalty in this case, which is a little surprising given that there is really no excuse for a major company like this to not be aware of the regulations for this type of marketing content.  Instead, the FTC is essentially giving them a slap on the wrist and telling them what they must do going forward to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

An FTC statement said, “The order specifies the minimum steps that Warner Bros., or any entity it hires to conduct an influencer campaign, must take to ensure that future campaigns comply with the terms of the order.  These steps include educating influencers regarding sponsorship disclosures, monitoring sponsored influencer videos for compliance, and, under certain circumstances, terminating or withholding payment from influencers or ad agencies for non-compliance.”

Having full disclosure given by social influencers whenever paying them to do any type of marketing is absolutely essential.  If this is not done properly it is not only deceptive to viewer, but will certainly attract the attention of the FTC.

Pesach Lattin
Pesach Lattinhttp://www.adotat.com
Pesach "Pace" Lattin is one of the top experts in interactive advertising, affiliate marketing. Pesach Lattin is known for his dedication to ethics in marketing, and focus on compliance and fraud in the industry, and has written numerous articles for publications from MediaPost, ClickZ, ADOTAS and his own blogs.

1 Comment

What's your opinion?

Latest news

 2024: Goodbye Impressions, Hello Attention

Attention Metrics: The Ad Industry’s New Favorite Buzzword  2024 will forever be known as the year advertisers got collectively obsessed...

What is the Perfect Ad? 

Spoiler Alert: It’s Still Not What You Think I’ve been talking shop with some of the sharpest creative minds on...

Display Advertising: The Zombie That Refuses to Die (And Why You Should Care)

Ah, display ads. Like bell-bottoms and vinyl, they’ve been declared dead so many times they’re practically immortal. “Who’s even...

FTC Sends Warning Letters to Healthcare Lead Generators

The Federal Trade Commission is watching the healthcare lead generation industry closely. On December 10, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission...

Ditch the Dirty Blanket: Facing the Funky Truth of Ad Spend

Look, marketing land is littered with marketers clinging to old-school attribution models tighter than a toddler with a filthy...

When Ad Titans Tango: Omnicom and IPG’s $25 Billion Waltz to Dominance

In a move that has the advertising world clutching its collective coffee cups a little tighter, Omnicom Group has...

Must read

 2024: Goodbye Impressions, Hello Attention

Attention Metrics: The Ad Industry’s New Favorite Buzzword  2024 will...

Display Advertising: The Zombie That Refuses to Die (And Why You Should Care)

Ah, display ads. Like bell-bottoms and vinyl, they’ve been...

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you