Dive Brief:
-
The Federal Trade Commission last month told shoemaker and retailer Cole Haan that it should have made it clear that a contest it held via Pinterest required participants to pin five images from a Cole Haan board in addition to five of their own.
-
The prize was a $1,000 gift card and the campaign was hashtagged #wanderingsole. The FTC sees the pinners’ endorsement of Cole Haan as inauthentic without the disclosure.
-
The company won’t be fined or face any penalty, however, because the FTC just firmed up its policy over this matter.
Dive Insight:
This is the kind of policy that, once upon a time, led to those ultra-fast voiceovers at the end of radio ads. But this one shouldn’t upset retailers too much. Anyone bothering to participate in a company’s contest is probably fairly interested in that company, but, apparently, that doesn’t go without saying. The FTC has decided that the coercion caused by a contest requirement is strong enough to warrant a disclosure about it. The thing about the internet is that generally, people like to know when something is sponsored or is actually advertising dressed up as a quirky video; otherwise, there’s often a backlash. In the long run, therefore, retailers are probably better off being up front in this area anyway.