If you are sick of hearing about the FTC and its new disclosure policies, you can navigate away from this page now. . . . Otherwise, buckle up for a long post and my soapbox! This is the stuff that wakes me up in the middle of the night. This post was originally drafted at about 4 a.m. (sad, I know).
I find far too many instances (well let’s just say most marketing tactics in general) that seem to reinforce the idea that it just doesn’t make sense for the FTC to get involved with bloggers at the level that it is doing so.
Let’s just talk for a minute about products and some of the ways they are promoted:
- Product placement: There are PR firms that specialize in “product placement.” In essence, putting product in the hands of celebrities, reviewers and editors online and off.
- Entertainment: Let’s take the movie Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell, for example “Thank you for this bounteous harvest of Dominos, KFC and the always-delicious Taco Bell.” Look at the products on the table: Coca-Cola (notice how the logo is faced perfectly no matter what camera angle is featured). His car is covered in Wonderbread stickers. Did they need to disclose to me up front in the movie that these products paid to be in the movie? This happens with the clothes actors wear, the stores they stand in front of and the restaurants they dine in onscreen. Wondering what the most off-quoted statement at our house from Talladega Nights is? “The Jack Hawk 9000, available at WalMart . . .”
The above list is short and barely skims the surface of the many ways that products and services are marketed, placed in the media, endorsed and represented to the public.Let’s level the playing field a bit. Do I think bloggers are being unfairly targeted? Definitely. This is one messy can of worms. All of the entities I mentioned above generally have legal departments, diversified revenue streams, real operating budgets, etc. These are called resources. Most bloggers don’t have that kind of backup.
This is targeting individuals as opposed to organizations. As well sometimes, individuals might want to target each other unfairly and individually. This can also become highly personal. Additionally, all of these bloggers have varying levels of business experience, legal expertise and conflict-resolution background. Does the FTC really want to start fielding those confrontations?
A scenario:
- Competitive bloggers police each other’s content. One reports the other to the FTC (fairly or unfairly). There is room for fabrication, inaccuracy and malice in this sort of scenario. Individuals, not legal experts, are most likely handling this situation.
- In walks the FTC:
- Does it investigate?
- Does it spend its time following up on this sort of tattling?
- Does it pull apart bloggers disclosure statements, policies and procedures?
- Do bloggers have the resources to handle these sorts of investigations?
- Who is being protected?
- Who is the victim?
- Would the FTC be better off following up with large organizations that are slanderous or that have inaccurate claims and statements that are being promoted to the masses?
- Are there not people in underserved countries being given our leftover dangerous consumer goods who could use more of our attention, resources and protection?
Seriously, folks–there are better ways to use the FTC’s resources and policing. Let’s be clear about who bloggers are and who their audience is. Blogs are not the Consumer Reports. They are opinion and publishing platforms of individuals.
Disclosure Statements and Consumer Savvy
Moreover–am I interested in reading your disclosure statement? Not really. Consumers need to adjust.
- When I walk into a basketball arena and I see the banners, I know they are paid for.
- When I walk into a bookstore and I see what’s on the end cap, I know that was paid for.
- When I see the infomercial with “what’s her name” endorsing Proactive, I know she is paid.
- When I open a magazine and I look at most of the editors’ picks, I know that someone, somewhere provided the magazine with a product to review.
- When I watch Talladega Nights I know that Doritos, Mountain Dew, KFC, Coke, Appleby’s and Wonderbread paid to have their logos, products and services in the movie.
- When I pick up Us Weekly I know that half of those clothes those celebrities are wearing have been paid for.
- When there are pics snapped of high-profile people at the Sundance film fest, I know that they’ve received thousands of dollars of products in their swag bags.
AND AMEN TO THEM ALL!
We’ve created a pretty complicated world with a lot of noise for marketers to create compelling campaigns to get their message across. There is a learning curve for consumers, just like anything else. Let consumers adjust as well.
Capitalism, Darwinism and Survival of the Fittest
Will a blogger thrive and grow a loyal audience if he or she is:
- Continually hawking products she doesn’t believe in
- Doesn’t endorse quality
- Makes canned claims and reposts marketing copy in her posts
- Is off message and brand to her audience
My answer is no. And I would submit to you that her audience/followers will take care of the problem. As for those who’d like to be loyal to those content creators who don’t endorse quality–it’s their choice and their monetary gamble if they make purchasing decisions based on those blogs’ endorsements. May the best blogs win!
Bloggers with real influence care about their audience. They nurture trust and loyalty through the quality of their content, and that includes the kind of products they talk about. Let Darwin dispose of them, not the FTC.
Disclosure:
Ricky Bobby, WalMart and Wayne’s World did not compensate me in any way, shape or form for their media inclusion in this post. Additionally, my family does not receive any royalties or revenue as a result of using the term “The JackHawk 9000, now available at WalMart” around our home and in our personal and public conversations.
Did I really need to tell you that?
This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under General Business, Blogs, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.15 Responses to “Why I Think the FTC has Walked into Crazy Town”
Leave a Reply
November 9th, 2009 at 11:38 am
And I say “Amen, sister!” I couldn’t agree with you more. When I write product reviews on another site, I always let our readers know the product was sent to me by the company AND I give an honest and fair review. If I don’t like something, I tell them. If I love it, I tell them that too. You hit it right on the head when you said “her audience/followes will take care of the problem.” If a blogger isn’t sincere, her readers will know and find other blogs to read instead. Yes, FTC, let’s save our energy and resources for those issues that really matter. And your disclosure statement? Priceless! (And no, MasterCard didn’t compensate me in any way to say that…)
November 9th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
True, survival of the fittest will weed many out, but the point is that consumers deserve to know if someone is endorsing a product because they were paid, or sincerely providing an endorsement for a business they love.
Reality is that it is unlikely the FTC will be policing bloggers, but consider if your competitor dumped millions of dollars to bloggers to make them look better, and you bad. It could cause many people to have a poor opinion of you, and you would not be able to address them because they are not real consumers.
The FTC ruling is not meant to put restrictions or red-tape on bloggers. It is a statement to encourage truth by members of a new media. Unfortunately, there are many bloggers and other people online who are hurting legitimate businesses for profit. They need to play by the same rules that newspapers, television, and movies have been playing by.
November 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
I can see how some bloggers actually go out to hurt business. The example of the blogger at BlogHer09 this year with George from Crocs: http://nosenseoftime.org/2009/07/threatened-at-blogher/
That is where I see that brands need protection.
As for the “same rules” - I’m not confidant that the way the FTC is applying the rules can be compared for many of the bullets I listed above.
It’s a tough problem - it’s kind of like the Wild West of blogging and product evangelism right now. There are some things that need working out but I don’t think these new policies are the addressing the real big problems.
I think there are far bigger issues dealing with slander online than review disclosure. Thoughts? Would love to hear of some real world scenarios that this new ruling would help solve. I think that would be super helpful.
Thanks for your comment Nick!
November 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
GREAT POST! I am torn on the disclosure issue. I hate reading a blog that sounds like someone describing their family trip to Disney World and it ends up being a trip that was paid for in exchange for a review.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Yup, all things I have been wondering about since this ruling came out.
Great post.
November 9th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
HEAR HEAR!
How about the government focus on pharma/doctor kickbacks not moms who score a few freebies by enjoying a hobby—blogging—that takes them away from mundane tasks like laundry for a moment. Seriously. It’s not like I’m prescribing medications to patients because I won a free trip. I’m reviewing a breastfeeding product because someone gave it to me. WOW! Alert the media!
November 9th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
You know for some reason I wasn’t too worried about this, not that I was excited for it. But now after reading this post…well I realize that is does really suck!
November 9th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I agree with you on so many points here but the main thing I keep coming back to is the concept of value of the individual blogger’s credibility. If your readers don’t trust you, they won’t come back. Self-policing (and possibly community policing) is key as opposed to FTC intervention in my humble opinion. I know they’re trying to protect the consumer from false claims but if you’re a consumer and you’re stupid enough to believe everything you read in a blog (or see on an infomercial) without fact/source checking or a little common sense, then well…you’re on your own. But maybe I’m just a pragmatic cynic?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Perfectly said, Rach!! Love your reasoning and support to your perspective. Rock on!!
November 10th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
This is a fantastic and well put together article I have seen so far on this topic. I absolutely agree with you! I appreciate the time and research that you have put into this. I really hope people wake up at some point and realize how ridiculous it is in general.
Toni-Lynn
@Delightful_Toni
DelightfulChaos.com
November 10th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Awesome post! You spoke for many of us! As with any business, there are those that take advantage of the system.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Okay Talladega Nights? Peeing my pants.
I find it all worth snarking about in my world. They seem to believe the me as a blogger and my readers as (usually) other bloggers are not smart enough to realize what is basically everywhere.
however Lauren makes the best point against ALL of this.
When you read a blog and later find out the product was provided (or in my opinion lamer- the blogger received actual cash for the ‘review’ in addition to the product itself… ) I don’t care what the FTC says or does.. it is a little lame on the blogger’s part.
Maybe a little ’self’ creating of some rules… I dunno?
November 11th, 2009 at 9:32 am
So question for everyone - if you did get that trip to Disneyland for free to blog about it (or Hawaii, or Paris or Europe to make things even more interesting). How would you handle it?
November 13th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
What a well written and well thought out article. Bravo! I could not agree more. Love the comparison to TV, Movies etc. Readers… not so stupid. FTC… not so sure. They may have painted themselves into a corner here.
Re: Disney, I have gone on several trips, courtesy of assorted hotels and resorts. When writing up the stories I tried to tell the good (and occasionally the bad). I try to inform about the locale and the amenities and how to make the experience of a visit to this general destination a great one. For instance - what to pack, which rooms to request. I am happy to go and tell people which restaurants we like at Disney, what time the ride lines are shortest,and where the hidden Mickeys are. To inform. I try to do a lot of showing rather than telling, with photos.
As far as I’m concerned on this sort of trip, I’m not there to market and advertise the place. I’m there to provide some degree of exposure but not to blast the sales schpiel with my megahorn. I don’t confuse my role as a reporter/reviewer and occasional “VIP” with that of a marketing/pr person. The resort is perhaps a product placement in my story, but my story is not an ad for the resort. Make sense?
Maybe I’m this way because I am a marketer. And my marketing services generally cost quite a bit more than a free night at a mid level hotel. My reputation is also worth more to me than that. As far as I am concerned if resorts want me to market I would prefer to be paid cash and place an ad. I’m not that easy. And my readers can smell BS from many miles away. I’ve had to turn down some offers recently, but so be it. Perhaps the one good in all this is that companies will be less likely to pressure bloggers into doing stupid things that are ultimately bad marketing decisions for all.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
This is a great post, and I love the humor infused throughout, especially as this is a hot-button topic.
On one hand, the FTC seems to be overcomplicating matters and unjustly targeting bloggers. Their new rules are vague but the punishments seem strict and I wonder how they really plan to enforce all this.
On the other hand, I see how it can be confusing when it comes to reviews whether the motivation is out of love of the product or money. On some level I feel like bloggers need to know, but I also agree that if a blogger routinely does reviews for poor products, her/his readers are going to figure it out.
I’ll be interested to see how these FTC guidelines play out over the next few months. I’m still trying to figure out what this means for me and my blog. I’m doing a giveaway with a product from a friend’s company. How much detail do I have to go in about our relationship and the product of hers that I own? I didn’t charge her for the giveaway; I never charge for giveaways. What a headache!