Federal Trade Commission Disclosure

Under Federal Law, the FTC requires disclosures in advertising and marketing to protect consumers from unfair practices and ensures consumers are adequately informed on products and services. These rules apply to ANYONE promoting products and/or brands. 

When do I have to disclose?

Do you have one of the following relationships with a brand?

  • Does the brand pay you or provides a benefit to you (e.g., money, free or discounted products, etc.)?
  • Are you an employee of the brand?
  • Do you have a personal connection with a brand (i.e., you signed an endorsement deal because your friend works there)?
  • Do you have a familial connection with a brand (i.e., a family member works there)?

If you answered “yes” to any of these scenarios, then you must disclose that you are working with a brand to the University and to the Federal Trade Commmission. 

Disclosure Steps for the Federal Trade Commission

For videos posted on platforms like Tiktok, Snapchat, or Instagram stories:

  • Indicate that your post is an endorsement  by verbally announcing it (e.g., “Thank you, brand, for the free product.”)  OR
  • Superimpose a written sentence over the video indicating that the post is endorsed or place the written sentence in the caption (E.g., overlay text at the beginning of the video in a readable font, such as: “#Ad - Paid by [Brand] #NIL” for at least 3-5 seconds.)  OR
  • In the Caption: For the same TikTok video, you can write in the caption: “#Sponsored Loving these new sneakers from [Brand]! They paid me to share my thoughts. #NIL #Ad”
  • For posts on platforms like Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter):
    • Include simple and clear language indicating that the post is endorsed (i.e., “advertisement”, “ad”, “sponsored”, etc.)
    • Include a sentence that calls out your relationship to the brand (e.g. “Thank you to brand for sponsoring me and supporting me on my journey.”)

Key Rules

  1. You may mention your experience with a product only if you have actually tried the product.
  2. Your endorsement must reflect your honest opinions, findings, and beliefs.
  3. You may not make claims about a product that would require statistical or scientific proof the brand does not have.
  4. You cannot hide an endorsement message in a group of hashtags or links.
  5. You must place the endorsement message on individual posts, not just on your profile or in your bio.
  6. You must explicitly say or write that the post is an endorsement message. 

For more information visit the FTC’s website. 

Have compliance questions? Contact the compliance office by email at uocompliance@uoregon.edu

The information provided here is an overview of the FTC’s disclosure requirements. It is not legal advice and there could be additional requirements you must comply with.