Summary of Action

In 2016, TINA.org investigated the Instagram accounts of Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as Kylie and Kendall Jenner, and found that they were each engaged in deceptive marketing campaigns for various companies. Specifically, TINA.org catalogued over 100 instances in which these members of the Kardashian/Jenner family had created and published Instagram posts promoting companies that include, but are not limited to, Puma, Calvin Klein, Fit Tea, and SugarBearHair, without clearly and conspicuously disclosing that they have a material connection with those companies or that the posts are ads, as is required by federal law.

As a result of these findings, TINA.org sent a warning letter to Kris Jenner, manager of the five women, as well as the family’s attorney and the numerous companies at issue, notifying them of TINA.org’s findings and asking that they fully remedy the deceptive marketing immediately. Within a few days, certain of the Instagram posts at issue were edited to include #ad in the caption but as of the morning of August 25, 2016 – a full week after the family and companies were put on notice – the vast majority of the posts in TINA.org’s database were unchanged and even more deceptive posts were uncovered.  Accordingly, TINA.org filed a formal complaint with the FTC later that day.

Approximately one year later, in August 2017, TINA.org conducted an audit, which revealed that 40% of the posts catalogued by TINA.org in 2016 remained unchanged. In addition, TINA.org compiled a new sampling of more than 200 social media posts made by the Kardashian/Jenner women on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat that promote companies without properly disclosing their material connections or that the posts are ads. Accordingly, on September 25, 2017, TINA.org alerted the family’s attorney, as well as the FTC and representatives of companies deceptively promoted by the Kardashian/Jenner women, to the continuing issue.