This week, the FTC announced a settlement with UrthBox and its president that addresses two topics that we frequently cover on this blog: (1) free trials; and (2) incentivized reviews.
Free Trial
The FTC alleged that Urthbox offered a “free” trial of its snack boxes for a nominal shipping and handling fee. 
For some consumers,
About a year ago, the SEC issued a warning to celebrities and social influencers who promoted Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) on social media, noting that such promoters are subject to federal securities laws. Apparently, at least two celebrities weren’t paying attention because they recently settled the SEC’s first cases regarding promoting ICOs without proper disclosures.
Two companies and their principals have agreed to settle FTC allegations that they misled consumers by presenting paid endorsements as independent consumer reviews and ads as independent news stories.
Creaxion, a PR agency, was tasked with creating a campaign to promote a client’s new mosquito repellent product around the time the press was reporting about
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a warning to celebrities and social influencers who use social media to encourage consumers to invest and/or purchase stocks. Recent celebrity endorsements for investment in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) were highlighted as examples in the SEC’s warning. In the future, if celebrities and social influencers
In November, we posted that four consumer groups had sent letters to FTC, encouraging the agency to investigate and bring enforcement actions regarding the use of influencers on 
Instagram. In what may be a response to that encouragement, the FTC just announced that it had sent more than 90 letters to companies and influencers, reminding
The NAD recently announced a decision that touches upon various issues related to consumer reviews, including how paid endorsements should be disclosed, a company’s responsibilities regarding the content of endorsements, and the presentation of aggregate reviews.
The FitTea website includes a “Results and Reviews” page. At the top of the page are a series of
In September, we noted that four groups – Public Citizen, Commercial Alert, the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, and the Center for Digital Democracy – had sent a joint letter to FTC encouraging the agency to investigate and bring enforcement actions related to the use of influencers on Instagram. The letter included examples of
This week, four groups – Public Citizen, Commercial Alert, the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, and the Center for Digital Democracy – sent a joint letter to FTC encouraging the agency to “investigate and bring enforcement actions related to the practice of non-disclosed advertising through influencer user profiles on Instagram.”
As we reported last
On Monday, a consumer advocacy group announced that it had sent a letter to the Kardashian-Jenner family challenging how the sisters promote products on Instagram. The group contends that the sisters have engaged in deceptive advertising by failing to disclose that their posts are sponsored. The group states, “The law is clear – unless it’s
