On October 13, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to hundreds of businesses warning them about risks of using fake reviews and misleading endorsements. In their release, the FTC explained that they are blanketing industry with a clear message that, if they use endorsements to deceive consumers, the FTC will be ready to hold them responsible with every tool at its disposal.
The Notice sent to the companies outlines a number of practices that the FTC determined to be unfair or deceptive in prior administrative cases. These include, but are not limited to: falsely claiming an endorsement by a third party; misrepresenting whether an endorser is an actual, current, or recent user; using an endorsement to make deceptive performance claims; failing to disclose an unexpected material connection with an endorser; and misrepresenting that the experience of endorsers represents consumers’ typical or ordinary experience.
Companies receiving the notice represent an array of large companies, top advertisers, leading retailers, top consumer product companies, and major advertising agencies. A full list of the businesses receiving the Notice from the FTC is available on the FTC’s website. A recipient’s presence on this list does not in any way suggest that it has engaged in deceptive or unfair conduct.
The full FTC press release can be found here.
A sample letter of the sent notice can be found here.
A list of companies who were sent the letter can be found here.