Celeb Influencers Just Got in Trouble for Their Sponcon Posts
There’s nothing celebs and influencers love more than posting some good old-fashioned sponcon to their Instagram accounts and pretending like it’s not an ad.
They just really love their *insert product name here* by *insert brand’s Instagram handle here* and needed to stop whatever they were doing to tell their millions of followers how thankful they were to be wearing/using it.
But sadly for these famous souls, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on to their game — and they just sent warning letters to 47 celeb influencers about how they need to shape up or suffer the consequences.
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On Monday WWD published a list of celeb influencers who were sent identical letters which stated, “If there is a ‘material connection‘ between the endorser and the marketer of a product – in other words, a connection that might affect the weight or credibility that consumers give the endorsement – that connection should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed.”
They went on to clarify that “material connection” could be “of a business or family relationship, monetary payment, or the provision of free products to the endorsement” and should be clearly visible without getting hidden in a sea of hashtags.
WWD points out that most of the offending posts have since been deleted rather than get an amended caption. Here are some of our favorite offenders: Jen Selter for Adidas, Heidi Klum for Dunkin’ Donuts, Jamie Lyn Spears for FabFitFun, Caroline Manzo for Hello Fresh, and Kourtney Kardashian for Popeyes.
TBH, we always suspected there was something odd about all the Popeyes the Kardashian-Jenners got photographed with.
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Obviously until the FTC actually starts taking firmer action than just sending letters and leaking information to the press, celeb influencers will probably keep on keeping on, but isn’t it nice to know we’re theoretically moving towards a future where everybody realizes Instagram is basically just a giant scrolling ad?
[H/T Cosmopolitan]
