Kardashians
TINA.org investigated the Instagram accounts of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as Kylie and Kendall Jenner, and found that they were each engaged in deceptive marketing — publishing Instagram posts promoting various companies, including Puma, Calvin Klein, Fit Tea and SugarBearHair, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing their material connections to those companies or that the posts were ads, as is required by law.
Highlights
- Sent warning letter to family
- Notified companies promoted by family
- Filed complaint with FTC
- Family addressed more than half of deceptive posts identified by TINA.org
- Notified family and FTC of continuing deception
Timeline
2017
September 25
After re-auditing the original sampling and finding that 40% of the posts remain unchanged, and after collecting a new sampling of more than 200 deceptive social media posts, TINA.org alerts the family’s lawyer, as well as the FTC and representatives of companies deceptively promoted by the Kardashian/Jenner women, to the continuing issue.
2016
August 25
After auditing the original sampling of deceptive Instagram posts compiled in TINA.org’s database and finding that the majority of the posts remained unchanged, TINA.org files a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission urging it to open an investigation and take appropriate enforcement action against those companies and individuals found to be violating the law.
August 17
TINA.org sends a warning letter to Kris Jenner, manager of the five women who were investigated, as well as the family’s lawyer and the numerous companies at issue, notifying them of TINA.org’s findings and asking that they fully remedy the deceptive marketing immediately.
Evidence
Featured
Exposure without Disclosure: Cashing In with the Kardashians
TINA.org takes famous family’s deceptive social media endorsements to the FTC.
The Latest
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Ad or Not? Kylie Jenner
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Deceptive Ads 2016
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5 Trends Dominated Ad Law in 2016
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A closer look at what we’ll be scrutinizing in the new year.
Instagram Face’: Is It the End of Good Makeup?
Crystal Martin, The New York Times