Clear and Conspicuous Disclosure

Clear and conspicuous is the legal standard the FTC uses to decide whether a disclosure actually counts. It is not a checkbox — it is a four-part functional test, and a disclosure has to pass all four parts.

The four-part test

1. Proximity. The disclosure has to sit next to the claim it qualifies. A "#ad" ten hashtags down from the endorsement does not pass. For video, the on-screen disclosure has to appear when the claim is made, not at the end.
2. Visibility. Font, contrast, and placement have to make the disclosure noticeable to a viewer scrolling at normal speed. Light grey on a white background, three-pixel font, or a disclosure obscured by the Reel caption sheet all fail.
3. Understandability. Plain English. "#ad" and "#sponsored" pass. "#sp," "#collab," "#partner," and "#ambassador" are not understood by enough viewers to qualify.
4. Unavoidability. The disclosure has to reach the same audience as the claim. If 60% of viewers watch the Reel with sound off, a verbal-only disclosure fails for the silent 60%. If half of viewers don't tap "more" on the caption, an "under-the-fold" disclosure fails for them.

Format-specific failures

• Stories. A swipe-up affiliate link with no on-screen text fails. Add a sticker or text overlay reading "ad" or "paid."
• Reels. Verbal-only disclosures fail for the sound-off audience. Burned-in on-screen text for at least three seconds, in a position not covered by the caption sheet, is the safe pattern.
• Carousels. A disclosure on slide 1 only is insufficient if the endorsement claim is on slide 4. Repeat the disclosure or carry it in the caption above the "more" fold.
• Live. Verbal disclosure at the start of the stream, repeated whenever a new viewer joins or the endorsement is repeated.

What the FTC has actually targeted

The Commission's warning letters and consent orders show a pattern. Buried hashtags, "thanks to [brand]" framing without a disclosure word, disclosures that scroll off-screen, foreign-language disclosures on English-language posts, and disclosures that require a tap ("tap to see more") — all have drawn enforcement. The Paid Partnership tag alone fails the unavoidability prong because not every viewer sees it.

The fastest mental check: if a viewer pauses the Reel at any point during the endorsement claim and looks at the screen for one second, can they see a disclosure word in plain English? If no, it fails.