Don't Forget About Those Pesky FTC Guidelines...

And thus after 15 months I return to the blogosphere...

An interesting article appeared in today's NYT about product placement, blogs, and the FTC. When the FTC updated its rules last year, the marketing world changed. All of a sudden, bloggers, celebrities, and everyone else became required to disclose "material connections" to any brands or products they might be conveying opinions about. The days of sending a blogger free product in exchange for a subtle positive message? Over. Getting a celeb to tween on your brand's behalf? Done. Well, not exactly done, but not exactly as suave and effective as it might once have been.

The case law on this subject is small. The article mentions a run-in with Ann Taylor Loft, but with no repercussions. Brands and their marketers must be careful not to run afoul of this law. The FTC won't be able to catch everyone...but you can bet they'll be gunning to make examples out of a few big names.