Blogger Beware: Using Endorsements and Testimonials the Right Way

The use of bloggers to promote a product or event has become an integral part of most marketing campaigns for action sports. Blogging allows action sports companies to reach their target demographic, often by relying on a celebrity endorsement. Laws and guidelines governing advertising apply to bloggers' activities, and sports marketers have to know how to comply so that the reference to the latest product being used by Kelly Slater or Shaun White doesn't lead to a lawsuit.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently revised its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials, which provide guidance to advertisers that ask others to endorse a product, including bloggers. (The Guides are on the FTC website at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf) The Guides are "advisory" in nature – not binding law – but the FTC uses them to evaluate whether an endorsement or testimonial violates Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair