Update: The FTC has clarified the ruling and the $11,000 fine would be leveraged against brands and not bloggers…but isn’t that still! excessive? Come on….
Okay so here it is….The FTC ruling. Blogs being held responsible for receiving product and guess what??? If there is any mis-step…an $11,000 fine. $11,000 is a BIG oops and is enough to put a small blog out of business, permanently. What it boils down to is this, basically a few swag happy bloggers have given the rest of us bad names. I have seen some bad behavior since I started blogging nearly 4 years ago but some of these “ladies” have taken it too far. This behavior includes but is not limited to: asking brands for product that has nothing to do with the kind of blog they write, asking brands on TWITTER for swag, tweeting about what they get in the mail, tweeting about what they are getting in gift bags, tweeting about press trips…the list goes on and on.
In addition, this FTC ruling singles out online publications (blogs) and let’s magazines slide (bear in mind, that EVERY SINGLE MAGAZINE has a blog now too). I have not and never will receive money or “kickbacks” to post anything on my site, nor would I EVER ask anyone to give me anything gratis.. It is 100% editorial and will continue to remain that way. I OWN the content…that means if you are a brand or PR company you can send me things but I may or may not write about them, you sending them to me is not a guarantee that it will appear on the site. Let me also get another thing straight, I’m not saying that all bloggers are swag happy. However, there are a few of you out there that need a lesson or two. I have been approached on MANY occasions to do a seminar on blogger etiquette…and you know what? Maybe I should, but I can’t save all of you. Let’s be real, there are people that blog because they want to be a writer/online editor as a CAREER choice and there are people who do it because they want free shit…plain and simple. I would fall into the first category….and anyone that I roll with does as well. We write about fashion/beauty because we LOVE it, live it…breathe it. Not because anyone gives us anything. I reviewed EVERYTHING in my closet (and still do) for 2 years before anyone even offered to send me a lipgloss! Here is an excerpt from the FTC below…
“The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that ‘material connections’ (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers–connections that consumers would not expect–must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other ‘word-of-mouth’ marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”
In addition, according to CNET, the crackdown will also extend to “celebrity endorsements“, so celebs tweeting about Slim Quick or whatever else they are given to use (or not use….LOL) will be falling by the wayside because we all know that celebs pay for EVERYTHING they consume/wear right?? Isn’t that the strangest thing? You can afford to buy whatever you want but people will just give it to you for free…..
Can I get an “amen” from the choir? Amazing statement, Lianne!