November 15, 2023
12 health influencers and registered dieticians on TikTok and Instagram just got slapped with a warning letter from the federal government for not disclosing their posts were actually paid for by the lobbying firms for sugar industry.
The Federal Trade Commission sent letters to the influencers who collectively have more than six million followers along with the American Beverage Lobbying group and the Canadian Sugar Institute saying that the FTC is “concerned that their marketing practices on Instagram and TikTok may be deceptive or unfair in violation” of the law. The FTC says the influencers and dieticians were posting advice on TikTok and Instagram endorsing the safety of aspartame and weren’t disclosing that the industry was paying them to do it.
Each of the letters to each of the influencers and dieticians literally gives the dates of the questionable posts and said even though some of them did add the hashtag sponsored or ad – it was buried at the bottom of the caption. The FTC says that’s not good enough the influencer needs to disclose in plain view that the post is paid for.
In case you don’t know – there are very strict rules and laws for all social media influencers to follow when it comes to disclosing when they’re getting paid to post content. I actually did a deep dive video on this last year. And if you want the FTC’s Disclosure 101 guide I will email that out to you tonight in my news girl news roundup email so make sure you sign yourself up.
Now – I know you want to know which influencers and dieticians actually got one of these FTC warning letters. I’ll do you one better – you can read each of the letters sent to each of them. I will also email them to you tonight in the Roundup.
Now – these are just warning letters but –each of the influencers and dieticians are required to make the corrections to their videos and paid endorsement disclosures by next week. The letter goes on to say the influencers and agencies are now on the FTC’s radar and if they keep it up – they could be subject to a fine of more than $50,000 per violation.
Read the letters to the influencers and dieticians here.
Read the FTC disclosure 101 guide here.
