New FTC guidelines to change customer testimonials, require ads to include typical results
By APMonday, October 5, 2009
New FTC guidelines to change customer testimonials
WASHINGTON — New guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission will require advertisers using customer testimonials to clearly disclose results consumers can typically expect.
The FTC’s associate director for advertising practices, Mary Engle, says guidelines published Monday mean advertisers can’t hide behind disclaimers when they show atypical results.
Companies using testimonials had long been showing customers with atypical results, along with a disclaimer saying that’s not what other consumers should expect.
They were never required to tell consumers what they should expect, until now.
Engle says consumers should no longer see ads with “atypical” results without hearing from the advertiser what they can expect.
The guidelines were last updated in 1980.
