Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice V. 40

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40 Mitchell Hamline L. J. Pub. Pol'y & Prac. 1 (2019)

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Casale: Influenci the FTC to Update Disclosure Rules For the Social Med
MITCHELL HAMLINE

LAW JOURNAL OF

PUBLIC POLICY AND PRACTICE

VOLUME 40 SPRING 2019
@ 2019 by Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

INFLUENCING THE FTC TO UPDATE DISCLOSURE RULES
FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA

Elizabeth A. Casale*

I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 1
II. THE RISE OF INFLUENCER MARKETING.................................................. 2
A. A Brief History of Influencer Marketing ............. ......... 3
B. Social Media's Influence ..................................... 5
C. Instagram - The Prime Medium for Influencer Marketing.................. 6
1. How Instagram Works .......... .................... 6
2. How Influencers Use Instagram ............. ........... 8
III. FTC OVERSIGHT OF MARKETING PRACTICES ........................................ 9
A. Material Connections Disclosure Requirements .. .................. 10
B. The FTC and Influencer Marketing ...................... ...... 12
C. Why FTC Oversight is Needed........................ 15
IV. INFLUENCER COMPLIANCE WITH FTC GUIDELINES............................ 16
A. Advertisers........................................... 16
B. Companies ............................................. 17
C. Influencers ............................................. 17
V. MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS ........................................................ 18
VI. THE FTC NEEDS TO UPDATE GUIDANCE FOR THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA . 19
VII. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................ 22

I. INTRODUCTION

Social media has revolutionized the way that we interact. In a
Pew Research Center study, sixty-nine percent of respondents

* Associate in the Business Litigation Practice Group at Thompson Coburn, LLP
in St. Louis, Missouri. The author holds an Honors Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration from Oregon State University, and a J.D. from Wake
Forest University School of Law. The views and opinions represented herein
reflect those of the author alone.

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Published by Mitchell Hamline Open Access, 2019