Rules For Business Endorsements

Know what the law expects

By: George C. Jobel

It's important to note that our research for this article did not reveal any State of NH regulations about endorsements, but the Federal Trade Commission has plenty of stringent ones.

Essentially:

Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser.

The endorsement may not be presented out of context or reworded so as to distort in any way the endorser's opinion or experience with the product. You may not use a 'nice' remark about the product if the endorser's opinion is generally negative.

The endorsement may be used only if the endorser is a current bona fide product user. If the endorser has 'switched brands' you may not continue to use the endorsement.

Advertised endorsements making 'claims' about the product are subject to the same 'proof tests' as if the seller made the claims directly. If you use a celebrity's opinion about a product benefit, you need to be able to prove their remark(s) to be true, just as if you made the statement yourself.

Testimonials or claims about a particular 'experience' with your company have to be representative of the 'common' experience consumers would receive, unless consumers are otherwise plainly advised that these results are not typical. You cannot say 'So & So' lost 57 pounds on your personal training regimin unless it's typical, or you clearly advise consumers it's not typical.

When you have a familial or business connection to the endorser that that could not be reasonably known or expected by the audience, that fact must be disclosed. If your brother-in-law, the mayor, or a reciprocal client, is making an endorsement, you must plainly disclose the relationdship.

For the purpose of these rules, when you reproduce testimonials or comments, the reproduced material is an endorsement.

► For More Information about FCT rules, click here!
► RELATED ARTICLE:  Advertising Claims Rules