Advertising Law Tool Kit - Tenth Edition | 2022

Venable / 65 Consider the following when developing a social media campaign: • Is your promotion being run in compliance with any special legal requirements and/or specific rules imposed by the relevant social media platform(s)? For example, sweepstakes are subject to rules imposed by the social media platforms, such as those for advertising prize promotions, in addition to specific legal requirements, like registration and bonding under state and federal law. • If you are running a promotion across multiple social media platforms, have the campaign materials been carefully reviewed to ensure that disclosures and claims appear clearly and conspicuously on every platform, in compliance with both the rules of each platform and any specific guidance provided by the FTC? • Are consumers being asked or incentivized to do or say something about your product or service that you, the marketer, would not be permitted to do or say on your own? Remember that incentivized posts must include disclosures that are compliant with the FTC’s Endorsements Guidelines. • Are you using influencers and/or native content as part of your branding strategy that may require disclosures? Do the people writing about your product or service, whether they are bloggers, influencers, or otherwise, have material connections to you that may need to be disclosed? Are all required disclosures being made? • Do you and your agencies/vendors have appropriate social media policies in place? Is proper monitoring being conducted to determine whether your agencies, vendors, and influencers are complying with the marketer’s social media policy and rules for disclosure of material connections? Are you enforcing the policy as necessary and appropriate? • Are you using native content as part of your advertising strategy? Is it clear that the content is sponsored advertising? • If celebrities or other third parties are featured in your social media campaign, have they given permission for their image or likeness to be associated with the brand? Have any material connections between the celebrity and your brand been properly disclosed? • If you are asking for “user‑generated content” as part of your social media campaign, have you put screening and moderation guidelines into place to address issues relating to intellectual property, rights of publicity, obscenity, etc.?