Advertising Disclosure, Law and Ethics
The law and ethics of creator advertising in the US: the FTC Act, Endorsement Guides and reviews rule, disclosure of material connections, fake engagement, claim substantiation and the Green Guides, health, alcohol, gambling and finfluencer rules, COPPA, CAN-SPAM, the TCPA, privacy and sweepstakes, platform tools, AI and deepfakes, and a compliance workflow.
CRE-320 Year 3 3 credits 12 lessons · 5 h 33 min
Offered by HSM University · Content Creation
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain why advertising is regulated and distinguish the legal, self-regulatory and platform layers that govern sponsored content
- Apply the core advertising law of Canada or the United States, including the overall impression test, enforcement routes and penalties
- Determine when a material connection must be disclosed and judge whether a disclosure is clear and conspicuous
- Disclose correctly in hard cases, including affiliate links, gifts, trips, ambassadors, employees, live streams and multi-product content
- Identify prohibited review and testimonial practices, including fake reviews, sentiment-conditioned incentives and fake engagement
- Recognize express and implied claims and match each to the substantiation it requires, including green and origin claims
- Apply the additional rules for health products, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and financial promotions
- Protect children, teens and vulnerable adults through appropriate content, disclosures and deal choices
- Apply privacy, anti-spam and contest laws to newsletters, text clubs and giveaways
- Use platform branded-content tools correctly and follow platform rules on restricted categories, promotions and AI
- Evaluate edits, AI-generated content, virtual influencers and deepfakes against legal and ethical standards
- Build a compliance workflow and audit a creator's content using compliance rates and weighted scores
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 33 min total · final exam
- 1 Advertising law, ethics and the creator 31 min · quiz
- 2 US advertising law: the FTC Act and self-regulation 27 min · quiz
- 3 Disclosing material connections: the detailed rules 27 min · quiz
- 4 Disclosure in practice: affiliates, gifts and hard cases 27 min · quiz
- 5 Reviews, testimonials and fake engagement 30 min · quiz
- 6 Claims and substantiation: performance, green and origin claims 28 min · quiz
- 7 Regulated products: health, alcohol, cannabis, gambling and finance 26 min · quiz
- 8 Children, teens and vulnerable audiences 27 min · quiz
- 9 Privacy, email, texts and contests 27 min · quiz
- 10 Platform rules and branded-content tools 27 min · quiz
- 11 Ethics of influence: AI, virtual influencers, deepfakes and edits 27 min · quiz
- 12 Building a compliance workflow and capstone audit 29 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
The law and ethics of creator advertising in the US: the FTC Act, Endorsement Guides and reviews rule, disclosure of material connections, fake engagement, claim substantiation and the Green Guides, health, alcohol, gambling and finfluencer rules, COPPA, CAN-SPAM, the TCPA, privacy and sweepstakes, platform tools, AI and deepfakes, and a compliance workflow.
Part of the Film & Photography stream, typically taken in year 3.