Truth in Advertising Sends Harsh Letters to Celebrities Who Promote NFTs.

TINA has notified 17 celebrities who promote NFTs and digital art of their legal obligation to disclose any material connection to NFT companies. Any undisclosed endorsements from NFTs that these celebrities promote through their social media accounts must be made public.

The letters referred to FTC rules on the “Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” Celebrities endorsing products must disclose any relationships they have with the NFT projects they are endorsing.

A-listers who received notifications included Snoop Dogg, Eva Longoria, Floyd Mayweather, Tom Brady, DJ Khaled, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others. Some of the projects mentioned in the letters include Bored Ape Yacht Club, Tom Brady’s Autograph, and World of Women.

These letters are in addition to those sent to Justin Beiber and Reese Witherspoon about two NFT projects they regularly support, InBetweeners and World of Women.
The NFT industry is thriving. We continue to see new applications for NFTs, and a recent US Government report predicted that the NFT market could reach $130 billion by 2030.

As a result, it’s no surprise that so many people are venturing into space. We see another celebrity jump on the NFT bandwagon almost every day. Many of them, however, are not adhering to the FTC’s statutory and regulatory framework, which includes a personal relationship as one of its disclosure requirements.

This means that some celebrities promoting NFTs are not disclosing their financial ties to the NFT collections they are promoting.

Furthermore, some celebrities promote NFT projects in which they have a personal stake without disclosing the speculative nature of investing in digital assets and the potential monetary losses. Many vulnerable consumers have discovered the grave financial risks associated with the hype surrounding NFTs to their detriment.

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According to a TINA consumer alert, “NFT investment decisions should not be based solely on celebrity endorsements.” Before purchasing these risky digital assets, consumers should always conduct their own research.”
Justin Beiber was chastised for promoting NFTs.

On June 10th, Justin Beiber’s legal team received a letter stating that he has been promoting an NFT company, InBetweeners, without disclosing his connections to the company.

TINA mentions in the letter that Beiber is listed as a partner on the InBetweeners website’s about us page. They then refer the legal team to tweets from Bieber promoting the NFTs that make no mention of his relationship with the NFT company.

In response, Beiber’s legal team denied any wrongdoing but added that Justin would “update his post concerning InBetweeners in order to further underscore his widely publicized connection with the company,” according to the article.

The posts were not altered by Beiber or his team.
Many NFT buyers see these promotions and interpret them as investment advice, placing their trust in their idles. Consumers have a right to know whether or not their favorite celebrities have a financial stake in the NFT collections they promote.

Finally, all connections should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed to the public when promoting products, according to long-standing FTC law. We both agree. Transparency benefits everyone involved. Especially for celebrities who are afraid of negative publicity. It will be interesting to see how everything turns out.

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