WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Lord & Taylor will settle charges brought forth by the Federal Trade Commission that allege the national retailer paid for native advertisements without properly disclosing the posts were paid promotions.
“Lord & Taylor needs to be straight with consumers in its online marketing campaigns,” Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said. “Consumers have the right to know when they’re looking at paid advertising.”
According to allegations, Lord & Taylor paid for a native advertisement in Nylon, a pop culture and fashion publication. It also allegedly gave 50 select fashion influencers the same free dress and paid them between $1,000 to $4,000 to post about the dress on social media. This was all part of the company’s Design Lab clothing campaign.
Lord & Taylor allegedly failed to properly disclose that the Nylon ad was paid and failed to have the Instagram influencers disclose the nature of their posts accurately.
Lord & Taylor will be prohibited from misrepresenting that its paid ads are from an independent source in the future. It must also ensure that its influencers clearly disclose when they have been compensated.
The FTC recently released a guide that companies can follow to make sure they follow proper native advertisement disclosure laws.