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PART 255 -- GUIDES CONCERNING USE OF ENDORSEMENTS AND TESTIMONI-
ALS IN ADVERTISING
Sec.
255.0 Definitions.
255.1 General considerations.
255.2 Consumer endorsements.
255.3 Expert endorsements.
255.4 Endorsements by organizations.
255.5 Disclosure of material connections.
AUTHORITY: 38 Stat. 717, as amended: 15 U.S.C. 41-58.
255.0 Definitions.
(a) The Commission intends to treat endorsements and testi-
monials identically in the context of its enforcement of the
Federal Trade Commission Act and for purposes of this part. The
term "endorsements" is therefore generally used hereinafter to
cover both terms and situations.
(b) For purposes of this part, an "endorsement" means any
advertising message (including verbal statements, demonstrations,
or depictions of the name, signature, likeness or other identify-
ing personal characteristics of an individual or the name or seal
of an organization) which message consumers are likely to believe
reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience of a
party other than the sponsoring advertiser. The party whose
opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience the message appears to
reflect will be called the endorser and may be an individual,
group or institution.
(c) For purposes of this part, an "expert" is an individual,
group or institution possessing, as a result of experience, study
or training, knowledge of a particular subject, which knowledge
is superior to that generally acquired by ordinary individuals.
Example 1: A film critic's review of a movie is excerpted
in an advertisement. When so used, the review meets the defini-
tion of an endorsement since it is viewed by readers as a state-
ment of the critic's own opinions and not those of the film
producer, distributor or exhibitor. Therefore, any alteration in
or quotation from the text of the review which does not fairly
reflect its substance would be a violation of the standards set
by this part.
Example 2: A TV commercial depicts two women in a
supermarket buying a laundry detergent. The women are not iden-
tified outside the context of the advertisement. One comments to
the other how clean her brand makes her family's clothes, and the
other then comments that she will try it because she has not been
fully satisfied with her own brand. This obvious fictional
dramatization of a real life situation would not be an endorse-
ment.
Example 3: In an advertisement for a pain remedy, an an-
nouncer who is not familiar to consumers except as a spokesman
for the advertising drug company praises the drug's ability to
deliver fast and lasting pain relief. He purports to speak, not
on the basis of his own opinions, but rather in the place of and
on behalf of the drug company. Such an advertisement would not
be an endorsement.
Example 4: A manufacturer of automobile tires hires a well
known professional automobile racing driver to deliver its adver-
tising message in television commercials. In these commercials,
the driver speaks of the smooth ride, strength and long life of
the tires. Even though the message is not expressly declared to
be the personal opinion of the driver, it may nevertheless con-
stitute an endorsement of the tires. Many consumers will recog-
nize this individual as being primarily a racing driver and not
merely a spokesman or announcer for the advertiser. Accordingly,
they may well believe the driver would not speak for an automo-
bile product unless he/she actually believed in what he/she was
saying and had personal knowledge sufficient to form that belief.
Hence they would think that the advertising message reflects the
driver's personal views as well as those of the sponsoring adver-
tiser. This attribution of the underlying views to the driver
brings the advertisement within the definition of an endorsement
for purposes of this part.
Example 5: A television advertisement for golf balls shows
a prominent and well-recognized professional golfer hitting the
golf balls. This would be an endorsement by the golfer even
though he makes no verbal statement in the advertisement.
[40 FR 22128, May 21, 1975, as amended at 45 Fr 3872, Jan. 18,
1980.]
255.1 General considerations.
(a) Endorsements must always reflect the honest opinions,
findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. Furthermore,
they may not contain any representations which would be decep-
tive, or could not be substantiated if made directly by the
advertiser. [See Example 2 to Guide 3 (255.3) illustrating that a
valid endorsement may constitute all or part of an advertiser's
substantiation.]
(b) The endorsement message need not be phrased in the exact
words of the endorser, unless the advertisement affirmatively so
represents. However, the endorsement may neither be presented
out of context nor reworded so as to distort in any way the
endorser's opinion or experience with the product. An advertiser
may use an endorsement of an expert or celebrity only as long as
it has good reason to believe that the endorser continues to
subscribe to the views presented. An advertiser may satisfy this
obligation by securing the endorser's views at reasonable inter-
vals where reasonableness will be determined by such factors as
new information on the performance or effectiveness of the
product, a material alteration in the product, changes in the
performance of competitors' products, and the advertiser's con-
tract commitments.
(c) In particular, where the advertisement represents that
the endorser uses the endorsed product, then the endorser must
have been a bona fide user of it at the time the endorsement was
given. Additionally, the advertiser may continue to run the
advertisement only so long as he has good reason to believe that
the endorser remains a bona fide user of the product. [See
255.1(b) regarding the "good reason to believe" requirement.]
Guide 1, Example 1: A building contractor states in an
advertisement that he specifies the advertiser's exterior house
paint because of its remarkable quick drying properties and its
durability. This endorsement must comply with the pertinent
requirements of Guide 3. Subsequently, the advertiser
reformulates its paint to enable it to cover exterior surfaces
with only one coat. Prior to continued use of the contractor's
endorsement, the advertiser must contact the contractor in order
to determine whether the contractor would continue to specify the
paint and to subscribe to the views presented previously.
Example 2: A television advertisement portrays a woman
seated at a desk on which rest five unmarked electric typewrit-
ers. An announcer says "We asked Mrs. X, an executive secretary
for over ten years, to try these five unmarked typewriters and
tell us which one she liked best."
The advertisement portrays the secretary typing on each
machine, and then picking the advertiser's brand. The announcer
asks her why, and Mrs. X gives her reasons. Assuming that con-
sumers would perceive this presentation as a "blind" test, this
endorsement would probably not represent that Mrs. X actually
uses the advertiser's machines in her work. In addition, the
endorsement may also be required to meet the standards of Guide 3
on Expert Endorsements.
[Guide 1]
[45 FR 3872, Jan. 18, 1980]
255.2 Consumer endorsements.
(a) An advertisement employing an endorsement reflecting the
experience of an individual or a group of consumers on a central
or key attribute of the product or service will be interpreted as
representing that the endorser's experience is representative of
what consumers will generally achieve with the advertis