The FTC recently ruled that a Pinterest contest from Cole Haan violated the Federal Commission Trade Act. Because the contest required users to pin several images from Cole Haan, and the participants were offered an incentive of a possible $1,000 prize, the FTC felt the pins were deceptive endorsements of Cole Haan. The FTC requires endorsements be made known, which is why you see the disclaimers about paid actors on most infomercials.
Not all contest rules are created equal
Asking users to make pin boards as part of a contest has been going on since Pinterest became mainstream. In fact, COHN has had clients use this social media channel and engagement method for holiday contests. It’s a great way to a) distribute your content to an organic audience that’s known to make purchases and b) determine your brand loyalists and reward them for doing something they are already comfortable doing. Social media contests that typically involve user-generated content can sometimes become complicated, asking users to create a video or take a picture and upload it in a way that can become a barrier to entry. Making a Pinterest board is easy and effective.
It seems like rules around social media contests are somewhat arbitrary, and can be unnecessarily restrictive. Facebook only recently changed its rules around contests, finally allowing brands to run promotions on their timeline, asking users to comment on or “like” a post for a chance to win something. And contests that use Instagram, asking users to take a picture of something at a brand’s request and use a certain hashtag, seem awfully close to what the Cole Haan Pinterest contest was asking for.
Staying sure-footed on a slippery slope
If the rules of the FTC are there to protect the consumer from deceptive endorsements, are we soon to see the return of rules around “liking” posts for contests? Will the concerns about shared images without disclaimers impact contests on Instagram or Twitter? Could this be resolved by requiring users to share content from a specific library, where the images or articles are branded with logos so the audience knows they are part of a contest, or supplied by a brand specifically for the purpose of sharing? Where do you think social media and content-sharing contests will go, now that the FTC is getting involved in protecting the unwitting consumer?
Photo Credit: Cole Haan – Wandering Sole on Pinterest
