spon-con

The F.T.C. Cracks Down on a Kardashian/Jenner Potential Revenue Stream

The Federal Trade Commission has its eye on Instagram’s ubiquitous influencers.
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By Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images.

The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it has its eye on Instagram—specifically, those who use the platform to make money. While some users are explicit about which posts are their own and which are sponsored or advertisements, others are less forthcoming when it comes to disclosing the truth behind their photos (and who’s responsible for paying them), prompting the F.T.C. to send them a lengthy reminder.

The F.T.C. didn’t release the official letter that was sent out to a list of more than 90 celebrities, athletes, and other influencers, but The Fashion Law noted that people like the Kardashians and Jenners, Anne Hathaway, Blake Lively, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, Naomi Campbell, and Chrissy Teigen were among the names given to the F.T.C. to investigate.

The letters essentially serve as cease and desist rather than warnings, according to the F.T.C.’s public affairs specialist Mitchell J. Katz. There are no plans to take any legal action against any of those who were sent the letters, but the F.T.C could wield that power in the future. And if the F.T.C. can identify consumer harm, it can file charges against the brands, advertisers, or influencers involved.

The blog posted on the F.T.C.’s website Wednesday offered “some #nofilter advice” to those who want to avoid ambiguity (and possible penalties) in their posts. Users should avoid long strings of hashtags that could get buried within captions, and vague comments like “Thank you” and “#spon” that don’t clearly explain the relationship between the endorser and advertiser.

Julie Zerbo, founder of The Fashion Law, has spent more than two years covering the often murky relationships between brands, advertisers, and influencers. She told Vanity Fair in an e-mail that “Consumers—who deserve transparency in advertising—consistently suffer as a result of the flagrant abuse of federal law by influencers and brands, alike. This is by no means the end, as the F.T.C. must ensure that influencers and advertisers are, in fact, applying the disclosure guidelines consistently and uniformly.”

In other words, it’s probably in those 90-plus recipients’ best interests to throw in an extra “#ad” at the top of their sponsored posts, just to be safe.

Vanity Fair has reached out to the Kardashians and Jenners for comment.