When is an Ad not an Ad?

There are people of influence–where “influence” is defined by completely different parameters than it was in the days before social networking–being paid $75,000 or more to <3 love a brand on Instagram. But does that kind of a shout out amount to an ad? Or is it something else? Here’s an interesting read:

“However, while the agency suggests putting “#ad” or “#sponsored” at the start of those kinds of social media posts, or providing verbal disclosures in videos, there are no hard and fast rules.

“We’re not prescriptive about that,” said Mary K. Engle, the F.T.C.’s associate director for advertising practices. “But it has to be unambiguous.”

For example, simply saying “thank you” to a brand or adding “#sp” or “#spon” probably isn’t clear enough, while saying a brand is a “partner” probably is, she said.”

Read the article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/business/media/instagram-ads-marketing-kardashian.html?_r=0