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Disclosure rules for branded series and podcasts

ComplianceReleased Updated Runtime 5 min

A branded series has to tell viewers that a brand paid for it, in a way they cannot miss. In the US that means saying it and showing it near the start of every episode. The description can repeat it, but it cannot be the only place. The creator also declares paid promotion in the video's details on YouTube, which labels its first seconds. YouTube is clear that legal responsibility stays with creator and brand alike. Branded podcasts work the same way, with one narrow exception for obvious ad reads. This guide summarizes public guidance. Treat it as background, since the brand's own counsel has the final word.

Hands paint a prop sauce bottle red and orange on a blue cutting mat
Frame grab: Andymation / YouTube

The base is the FTC Act. Its Section 5 bans deceptive or unfair conduct in commerce (15 U.S.C. § 45). Part 255 of Title 16 holds the Endorsement Guides, which set out how the FTC reads that law for endorsements and testimonials. They interpret the law and are not law in themselves. Breaking them is not a violation on its own, though practices that run against them can still bring action under Section 5 (16 CFR § 255.0).

Revised Guides came out on June 29, 2023. Four changes matter here. "Clear and conspicuous" now has a definition. Platform disclosure tools may fall short by themselves. Fake reviews, virtual influencers and social media tags are now covered. And liability is spelled out for advertisers, endorsers and intermediaries (FTC, June 29, 2023). Brands feel that last one most. A disclosure the creator leaves out can land on the advertiser.

Clear and conspicuous, defined

The test is in 16 CFR § 255.0(f). A disclosure has to be hard to miss and easily understood by ordinary consumers. It runs in the same channel as the claim: on screen, spoken, or both. In interactive media such as social platforms, it has to be unavoidable (16 CFR § 255.0).

Money or free product ties an endorser to a seller, and the Guides call that tie a material connection. It needs disclosing when viewers would not reasonably expect it and knowing about it could change how far they trust the endorsement (16 CFR § 255.5). A brand-funded series is a material connection in every episode.

Disclosure in video

The FTC's guide for creators is direct about video. The disclosure belongs in the video, and again during live streams. Putting it only in the description, or behind a "more" link, falls short. Plain wording passes: "sponsored," "advertisement" or simply "ad," or a thank-you that names the brand and the free product. Shorthand such as "sp," "spon" and "collab" fails (FTC, November 2019).

The FTC's own FAQ on the Guides adds three points, and we cut every branded episode around them. A claim made out loud needs a disclosure made out loud, at the least. An opening disclosure serves viewers better than a closing one. And relying on a platform's built-in label does not guarantee that a disclosure works (FTC).

In practice: the host says it in the first moments of each episode, a card shows it at the same moment, and the description repeats the wording.

YouTube's paid promotion setting

YouTube asks creators to declare paid promotion in a video's details whenever it carries branded content, sponsorship, endorsement or any other commercial relationship. Viewers then see a disclosure label as the video starts. YouTube also says creators and their brand partners remain responsible for meeting the law wherever it applies (YouTube Help). The label is required. It is not sufficient.

Disclosure in podcasts

One example in the Guides deals with podcasts. A host reads an obvious commercial near the top of an episode. The audience can tell it is a paid read, so it needs no added line saying the host was paid. If that host then posts about the same product on social media, the post is judged on its own terms (16 CFR § 255.5, Example 12).

The example is narrow. It covers an obvious commercial and nothing more. A sponsored segment that sounds like the show's own editorial needs a disclosure. So does a whole show a brand pays for. A branded podcast should name its presenter in the opening of every episode, which also tells listeners what kind of show they are in.

Reviews, testimonials and audience numbers

Customers, reviews or testimonials on screen bring in a separate FTC rule. On August 14, 2024 the FTC announced a final rule, passed 5 to 0, that bans fake reviews and testimonials (FTC, August 14, 2024). The rule is codified as 16 CFR Part 465. Its scope: false or fake reviews and testimonials, buying favorable or unfavorable reviews, reviews by insiders with no disclosure, company-run review sites, review suppression, and faked indicators of influence on social media (16 CFR Part 465).

That last item touches casting. Buying or selling fake followers, views or other engagement numbers is banned, which is one more reason we check a host's audience before booking.

If the series reaches UK viewers

In the UK the CAP Code applies. Its rule 2.1 requires marketing to be obviously identifiable as marketing (ASA and CAP). The influencer guide from the ASA and CMA favors an upfront label such as "#Ad". It steers away from "Gifted," "Sponsored," "Collab," "In partnership with," "Thanks to [brand]" and a bare brand tag. A platform label such as "Paid partnership" can be enough when it is upfront, clear and prominent (ASA, March 23, 2023).

"Sponsored" passes with the FTC and is discouraged by the ASA. For a series with viewers in both markets, "Ad" works for both.

How we handle disclosure on a series

Every episode we deliver carries five things:

  1. A spoken line from the host near the start, in plain words, naming the brand.
  2. An on-screen card at the same moment.
  3. YouTube's paid promotion label, or the matching label on other platforms.
  4. A disclosure line at the top of the description.
  5. For podcasts, a presenting credit read at the start of each episode.

Before delivery we also check every claim in the edit with the brand's lawyers, against what the brand can substantiate.

Source notes

Also in the screening room

  1. PodcastsHow branded podcasts workA branded podcast is a show a brand funds and presents. The three shapes it takes, how it is made and released, how it is measured, and what drives the cost.
  2. ExamplesBranded series that worked, and what they had in commonInside Trader Joe's, Open for Business, The Sauce, Mailchimp Presents and Red Bull Media House: what each did, who made it, and what they share.
  3. DevelopmentHow to brief a branded seriesWhat a one-page brief for a branded series should cover: the audience, the objective, what the brand brings, what it must approve, the release and the measures.

Bring us a brief

A paragraph is enough to start. We answer with questions first, then with an idea.

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