The FTC is going to kill you
Hey blogger…yes you! You’re toast, got it? Admittedly, that may be a slight exaggeration.
But news that came out yesterday about the FTC putting forth strict guidelines for bloggers to follow around who is paying them what (if anything, ever) to endorse products and services, should put some in the blogging (and tweeting world) on notice.
An FTC spokesperson said to the WSJ: “Our strategy is going to be more education than it is enforcement,” said Richard Cleland, an assistant director in the FTC’s consumer protection division who specializes in advertising practices.
Whew! So no jack booted thugs are likely to come and haul your pasty white blogging rump (dramatic reenactment in above photo) off to a white collar prison, or to drop the maximum fine of up to $11k on you for a first offense.
But still, it’s an interesting shift and one that we welcome. If someone is paying a blogger/tweeter/facebooker/etc to endorse their product then that should absolutely be made clear. Does that mean that bloggers endorsement completely goes without merit?
Not necessarily, but it will suffer a pretty significant blow in terms of impact. But how is that any different (besides the MUCH MUCH smaller scale) than a top pro athlete or celeb endorsing one brand of deodorant over another?
It’s not, as long as both are equally transparent about it.
So let us take this opportunity to clearly put forth our own practices for your awareness.
Reviewing Products:When we receive product from companies, it often is provided gratis (that’s fancy lawyer talk for free). If we then choose to review those products, we do not in any way allow the fact that the product was provided free of charge for review to factor into our final recommendation. In fact, if you are a company who sends us something, and want it back after we review it…feel free to send along a pre-addressed postage paid envelope/packing material and we will ship the product back to you. Not sure how huge the market is for broken tees, used golf shoes and scuffed balls, but hey…we’re ok with it if you are. As a side note, this is pretty much the same practice that most mainstream media have used for decades when reviewing products.
Stuff we pay for: We actually buy many of the products that we review. For example many of our ball reviews are just stuff we’ve purchased, liked (or not) and written about.
Paid endorsements: If you are a company and wish to pay us to endorse your product/service, then feel free to let the rainmaking begin! We accept cash (preferably in big manila envelopes to stoke our ego) and checks. We’ll say anything about your company/product/service that you write up if the price is right because well, we’re whores. Of course, we’ll disclose we’re whores and as such our endorsement of your product/service/other should be worth, well basically whatever we scrape out of our pockets on a Saturday morning.
People will be tempted to make this into a much bigger and more complex deal than it is. Don’t. It’s simple – if you’re getting paid to endorse something, then you should make it clear.
In the meantime, we’ll sit back and wait for the revenue windfall that we’re sure is coming now that we’ve let it known our highly valued endorsement is for sale.
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All I can say is “Great minds think alike!” But I’m a little freaked out too. ;o) http://realwomengolf.blogspot.com/2009/10/ftc-halts-evil-golf-blogger.html
I hope the biggies read mine first so I get all the good junkets. BTW I think I forgot to pay you for listing me on your blog roll last month.
I guess I’m just a bit jaded from spending so much time in Washington. But I have no problem sharing the info.
If anyone wants to buy some “Putt it in the Hole” worm juice, I’m offering a limited 2 for 1 deal.
Rules schmules. Where is my endorsement money?
Well, I did win I great niceballz T-shirt.
If you’ve already established yourself as a writer that people want to read, you just paste such a disclaimer in your sidebar and be done with it. And you know what? Depending on who the writer is, what they write about and who the audience is, it’s arguable that there’ll be ANY negative impact at all. If your audience has been reading you for a while and if you write in a way that inspires their trust… they’ll continue to trust you.
BTW – From what I’ve read the enforcement will be done more on the manufacturers side. …and I hardly think Golf Bloggers would be likely targets. Tech and particularly the MommyBloggers who get tons of products and money thrown at them … and whose disingenuous reviews could result in a less-than-safe-product in the hands of a baby would be way ahead of the guys reviewing a golf tee.
One final note – I just LOVE the way they said “this will be enforced on bloggers but not on traditional media, because the assumption is that in traditional media there’s an editor and a structure, that will prevent disingenuous editorial and product reviews from being published.” Yeah, right. In these desperate times many of the arrangements taking place between advertisers and traditional media are far more calculated and scurrilous then anything bloggers are doing.
Oh… and they’re going to try to regulate Twittering and Word-of-Mouth marketing too. LMFAO.
The FTC clearly doesn’t understand the current landscape AT ALL. And they’ve undoubtedly been influenced by lobbyists from traditional media, desperately trying to hold their little bit of remaining ground. The FTC’s inability to see blogging as a bona fide publishing channel comprised of many expert writers and pundits in addition to… consumers willing to exchange content for compensation…various species of Twitterer and miscellaneous content producers of every stripe is going to take them down a circuitous and thorny path. To say the very least. Oh and one final thing, if by chance the FTC did target someone with a legitimate, worthwhile blog and lots of loyal readers,they find it impossible to convict and said blogger would receive the awesomest publicity ever. ….OK – I’m done.
Sorry, re: MommyBloggers, I didn’t mean to indicate that they write disingenuous reviews …obvs… but that’s what it sounds like. I just meant the FTC could speculate that a disingenuous review could result in danger to a baby. K?
Well first off, I would be wary of attending any Mommy blogger conventions now. Or if you see an inordinate number of Volvo SUV’s following you while out and about, you may want to floor it to your nearest police station for protection. I’ve heard they’re like the blogging la cosa nostra.
There’s definitely a history of mainstream/traditional media exhibiting their own share of unethical behavior (e.g. Jayson Blair). But the huge influx over recent years of citizen journalists/bloggers/et al without any real self governance has created a bit of a wild west ‘make it up as you go along’ approach where practices are tried and either rejected by the collective wisdom of the online world or accepted.
Sort of Darwinistic approach, and one that leaves plenty of room for marginally ethical practices to become fairly widely accepted…so not necessarily fool proof. In the end, this is basically a change that (in my view) tries to legislate common sense. Like, you should wear a seatbelt. Not easily enforceable? True. Addressing all angles of the issue? No probably not. A huge issue in itself? No. Perhaps naive or misguided in some ways, but again to me it’s common sense. If you’re getting paid to endorse something – you should be transparent about it.
I do disagree that saying ‘Hey I got paid to endorse this, but I REALLY think it’s great so try it’ will carry the same weight or inherent trust as opinions given free of any endorsement factor. Industry studies have time and time again shown that advertising drives awareness…but things like media coverage (perceived to be neutral 3rd party validation) drive trust and action.
I also don’t think golf is going to be a big target, but who knows. Stranger things have happened…and maybe there’s some big ‘pay for play’ golf sub-culture out there we’re just not part of
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Ahhhh… Canada. Free healthcare and no government meddling when it comes to blogging. Another law or rule disguised to “protect” the public when its just a business trying to protect itself. GolfGirl is right about why this rule has come into effect.
I don’t remember having a chance to win a Niceballz t-shirt? What kind of a scam was that?
Hoops – May well be right about the ‘why’, but I still think it’s irrelevant to the impact (or lack thereof). If bloggers/tweeters are willing to be bought off, the least they can do is be candid about it. Think about the children for God’s sake.
Heather – You snooze you lose. Check contest section for further details
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Hack, I’d like to endorse this blog post. Can I send you a free ARMCHAIR GOLF BLOG mug?
Anything for the children… but yes, this all makes sense and it’s really nothing to worry about. Can we all go back to bed?
I am sending back everything I received, EXCEPT, the tricked-out name badge from Progressive Insurance where they put my name on it instead of Flo’s. Also, an autographed picture of Flo is staying right here, too. Fuck ‘em…
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