Veo Endorsement Disclosure Guidelines
We hope you are loving your Veo camera! These guidelines apply if you have been engaged by Veo to promote its products, including as a brand ambassador, or if you received your Veo product for free or at a discount and you choose to promote Veo’s products in social media or in other public facing comments, including on your own website or blog. In either case, you must disclose your relationship with Veo, or that you received product for free or at a discount. These guidelines explain your disclosure obligations, including how to make appropriate disclosures, and they must be followed at all times.
WHEN MUST I DISCLOSE?
If you receive payment, incentives, discounts or free items from Veo or a third party on behalf of Veo and you post or share content that promotes Veo or a Veo product or service. This includes on your own website or blog and if you promote Veo offline.
WHAT SHOULD I SAY TO MAKE THE DISCLOSURE?
- Do: Use plain language and tell people as clearly as possible that you received a payment or other incentive from Veo along with the nature of your relationship with Veo (e.g., whether you were paid, whether you received something for free, etc.).
- Do: If an explanatory sentence doesn't work based on where you are posting (e.g., Twitter), you may use a hashtag that is appropriate for your situation, such as #ad, #sponsored, or #freeproduct at the beginning of the post instead.
- Do: Feel free to use your own voice, e.g. “We’ve partnered with Veo to tell you more about Veo’s cameras” or “Veo sent me a free [XYZ model] camera so I could try it out.”
- Do: Be honest. Make sure your statements (including those you share or retweet) are true and not misleading. Your activities should reflect your personal experience and honest opinion.
- Do not: hold yourself out as just an ordinary fan or consumer with no connection to Veo or its brands, but you CAN say you are also a Veo fan or consumer.
- Do not: make any unapproved claims about Veo’s products. You may only make claims about Veo’s products that have been provided by Veo to you.
WHERE AND HOW DO I SAY IT?
- Do: Make it prominent
- Do: Put the disclosure directly in the post, message, tweet, photo, graphic, or video itself and make it stand out.
- Do: Use bold, italic, or different color font (or some combination of those) if that would help.
- Don’t: bury the disclosures at the end of a post or amongst a bunch of other hashtags. Your disclosure obligations are not satisfied by merely telling people you have a connection to Veo on a separate page or section on the same page that people click through from your initial post. If you create a post recommending Veo, your disclosure must be in the post in close proximity to the recommendation.
- Don’t: use multiple posts to make disclosures separately from the content.
- Don’t: put the disclosure after a “more” or similar button on a social platform (e.g., Instagram).
- Don’t: use inconspicuous or vague hashtags or other social jargon/links (do not use #SPON, #Thanks, #Partner, etc.).
- Don’t: use fine print and/or faint print.
- For videos or an ongoing conversation (like a live blog or live tweeting session), you can make the disclosure in a banner or caption on the screen, a title or end card, or both. For a short video/session (e.g., 3 minutes or less), include the disclosure at the beginning of the video. For a lengthy video/session, leave the disclosure on the screen (if possible) or make periodic disclosures over the course of the video/session.
- For photos, images, or graphics, include a disclosure even if there is no accompanying text (e.g., if you post a picture of a Veo product). If possible, include a disclosure on the image. If that is not possible, put the disclosure in a prominent place alongside it (e.g., in the post or tweet).
- Make sure the disclosure can travel if your post, tweet, photo, or video is re-posted, re-tweeted or shared. For example, put the disclosure first.
- If you received something from Veo that you will give away to others, you still must disclose according to the above guidelines. Also, if you offer people a chance to win the item, use any hashtag that Veo has provided or, if none has been provided, use #Sweepstakes (not #sweeps or other abbreviations). If participants will be posting or tweeting to earn an entry, encourage them to identify each post or tweet as an entry (e.g., “Make your post in the comment section below and don't forget to include #Sweepstakes in every tweet.”). Consult with your Veo contact about other required disclosures for your giveaway.
If Veo notifies you that it believes a post is in violation, you must remove it immediately.
You must also comply with the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising which can be found here: (https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-publishes-final-guides-governing-endorsements-testimonials/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf) and related The FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking (https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking ) (“Endorsement Guides”). This document provides some highlights and examples of how to comply with the Endorsement Guides. If you have additional questions, please review the Endorsement Guides.