Celebrities

Kardashian Media Empire Under Legal Scrutiny

The Kardashians haven't been super great about labeling their Instagram posts as the ads they so obviously are.

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(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3)

(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Yeezy Season 3)

You know those Instagram pics of celebrities or “influencers” where they are clearly touting a brand or product? Even though it would be obvious to an alien that had just landed on earth that those are advertisements and the spokesthings are being compensated for the carefully posed images, you still have to label them as such. Because, the law.

Members of the Kardashian/Jenner family are the reigning queens of this new form of advertising. They post on everything from vitamins, to beauty hacks, to sportswear, to everything in between. And they’re raking in the dough. But what the queens haven’t been super great about is labeling these posts as the ads they so obviously are, according to allegations by a non-profit consumer organization.

Truth in Advertising Inc. has sent a warning letter to the Kardashians, letting them know they are aware of their tactics, and things better change quick. As The Fashion Law reports:

Truth in Advertising Inc. has lodged accusations against the Kardashian/Jenner family for consistently skirting federal labeling requirements in connection with paid-for social media posts. According to a letter from Truth in Advertising Inc., a Madison, Connecticut-based organization, to Kris Jenner and the Kardashian/Jenner family’s lawyers, “We have found that members of the Kardashian/Jenner family are engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns,” according to Truth in Advertising Inc.’s letter, and as we have been documenting for over a year now, the organization certainly is not wrong.

Truth in Advertising goes on to demand that the Kardashians edit the posts by Wednesday, lest they tip off the FTC. Of course, telling the FTC is the only recourse for the non-profit, as they cannot initiate a cause of action; that power belongs solely to the FTC.

As The Fashion Law goes on to note, the remedy the non-profit is seeking is hardly adequate:

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This Instagram post was recently edited to add #ad, but that may not be enough to get them out of legal trouble.

What Truth in Advertising Inc. seems to miss here is that retroactive “correction” of such posts – which is already underway (to an extent) by Kim Kardashian (see below) but not her sisters – is almost certainly useless at this point in time. The famous family’s posts garner millions of impressions upon their initial posting and a significantly decreasing number of impressions thereafter due to the nature of social media postings, Instagram posts, in particular – which have been quoted as having a roughly 2 hour life span – and how they are viewed.

Indeed, they’d like to see far more punitive measures taken against the Kardashians:

Truth in Advertising Inc. should lobby the FTC to disgorge the Kardashian/Jenners of the profits they earned from such posts (profits of upwards of $300,000 per post), which is very clearly within the FTC’s powers in connection with the posting of undisclosed sponsored posts.

Harsh man. But given the alleged flouting of the FTC rules and the massive profits, influence, and following the family members have garnered as a result of their practices, it does seem fair.

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Truth in Advertising Organization Threatens to Report Kardashian/Jenners to FTC [The Fashion Law]
Kardashian Klan accused of ‘deceptive marketing’ [Page Six]

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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