TESTIMONIAL & ENDORSEMENT POLICY
The following Testimonial & Endorsement Policy (the “Testimonial & Endorsement Policy”), together with the Publisher Terms and Conditions (which are expressly incorporated herein by reference) and all other marketing policies, is a legally binding agreement between MarketLeverage, LLC (“MarketLeverage”) and you (collectively, “Publisher” “You” or “Your”), the user of the MarketLeverage website (the “Website”). You agree to use the Website and the network services (the “Services”) in accordance with this Testimonial & Endorsement Policy.
For purposes of this Testimonial & Endorsement Policy, endorsements and testimonials broadly mean any advertising message that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings, or experience of a party other than the sponsoring Advertiser.
This Testimonial & Endorsement Policy applies to any and all websites and materials used by You to promote campaigns on the MarketLeverage affiliate network, including, without limitation, blog websites, review websites, articles, and news websites (collectively, “Promotional Materials”). All Promotional Materials must be in compliance with the following guidelines:
Honesty. Endorsements in Promotional Materials must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the endorser. Furthermore, endorsements in Promotional Materials may not contain any representations that would be deceptive, or could not be substantiated, if made directly by the Advertiser. Upon request from MarketLeverage, You must be able to verify all claims stated on any Promotional Materials by providing documentation to back up Your claims within three (3) business days.
Endorsements by Consumers. An endorsement on a central or key attribute of a product or service will be interpreted as representing that the endorser�s experience is representative of what consumers will generally achieve. Accordingly, if an endorsement does not have adequate substantiation that the endorser�s experience is representative, You must clearly and conspicuously disclose either what the generally expected performance would be in the depicted circumstances or the limited applicability of the endorser�s experience to what consumers may generally expect to achieve. Finally, all endorsements from consumers must be real. Upon request from MarketLeverage, You must provide personally identifiable documentation of any consumer depicted in Your Promotional Materials, including, but not limited to, first name, last name, physical address and driver�s license or other government issued identification.
Endorsements by Experts. For purposes of this Testimonial & Endorsement Policy, an “expert endorser” is someone who, as a result of experience, study or training possesses knowledge of a particular subject that is superior to that generally acquired by ordinary individuals. Accordingly, to use an expert endorsement in Promotional Materials, an expert endorser�s qualifications must, in fact, give him or her, the expertise that he or she is represented as possessing with respect to the endorsement. Moreover, an expert endorsement must be supported by an actual exercise of expertise and the expert�s evaluation of the product or service must have been at least as extensive as someone with the same degree of expertise would normally need to conduct in order to support the conclusions presented. Upon request from MarketLeverage, You must provide documentation within three (3) business days to substantiate any endorsements made by experts appearing in your Promotional Materials.
Endorsements by Organizations. An organization�s endorsement must be reached by a process sufficient to ensure that the endorsement fairly reflects the collective judgment of the organization. Upon request from MarketLeverage, You must provide documentation within three (3) business days to substantiate any endorsements made by organizations.
Disclosure of Material Connections. When there is a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight and credibility of the endorsement (i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience), such connection must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in the Promotional Materials. Consumers are generally expecting independent advice. Accordingly, to the extent an economic motive exists for an endorsement of a product or service, the consumer should be aware of this economic motive.
Actual Consumers and Actors. Promotional Materials presenting endorsements by what are represented as actual consumers should utilize actual consumers, or clearly and conspicuously disclose that the persons are not actual consumers. Upon request from MarketLeverage, You must provide personally identifiable documentation of any consumer depicted in Your Promotional Materials, including, but not limited to, first name, last name, physical address and driver�s license or other government issued identification.
FTC Compliance. All Promotional Materials containing endorsements or testimonials must comply with all aspects of the Federal Trade Commissions Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Testimonials in Advertising, as amended (16 C.F.R. Part 255).
MarketLeverage reserves the right to review all Promotional Materials randomly for compliance with this Testimonial & Endorsement Policy. Any Publisher found in violation of this Testimonial & Endorsement Policy may be terminated from the MarketLeverage network.
Last Updated: September 3, 2009