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Making the FTC ☺: An Approach to Material Connections Disclosures in the Emoji Age
Christina Sauerborn*
Note

  The full text of this Note may be found here.

28 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 571
Note by Christina Sauerborn*

 

ABSTRACT

[I]

n examining the rise of influencer marketing and emoji’s concurrent surge in popularity, it naturally follows that emoji should be incorporated into the FTC’s required disclosures for sponsored posts across social media platforms. While current disclosure methods the FTC recommends are easily jumbled or lost in other text, using emoji to disclose material connections would streamline disclosure requirements, leveraging an already-popular method of communication to better reach consumers. This Note proposes that the FTC adopts an emoji as a preferred method of disclosure for influencer marketing on social media. Part I discusses the rise of influencer marketing, the FTC and its history of regulating sponsored content, and the current state of regulation. Part II explores the proliferation of emoji as a method of communication, and the role of the Unicode Consortium in regulating the adoption of new emoji. Part III makes the case for incorporating emoji as a method of disclosure to bridge compliance gaps, and offers additional recommendations to increase compliance with existing regulations.

*Online Editor, Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, Volume XXVIII; J.D. Candidate, Fordham University School of Law, 2018; B.A., Individualized Study, with a concentration in Art and Business, New York University, 2011. The Author would like to thank Professor Olivier Sylvain for his guidance and feedback in developing this Note, and the IPLJ Editorial Board and staff for their hard work throughout the editorial process, especially E. Alex Kirk, Matt Hershkowitz, and Jillian Roffer. The Author would also like to thank her family and friends, especially Kathryn and Gary Sauerborn, James DiStefano, and Jessica Drake, for their unconditional love and support.