Social Media Guidelines
See Also
FAQ - General | Heinemann Duty FreeLargest Chanel flagship opens in LondonDear PurseBopStep aside No.5: Chanel's new No.1 collection marks a new era for the brandChanel believes in full, fair, and effective disclosures relating to influencers’ and creators’ relationship with our brand in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning Endorsem*nts and Testimonials (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-255). As such, we require that you adhere to the following guidelines.
- Disclose Connection to Chanel – When posting about or endorsing Chanel or our products, you must clearly and conspicuously disclose that you have a “material connection” with Chanel. “Material connections” include monetary compensation, free products or services, gifts, travel accommodations, special access privileges or any other benefits or incentives. An “endorsem*nt” is any advertising message that consumers are likely to believe reflects the opinions, beliefs, findings or experience of a party other than the advertiser. As a rule of thumb, if you are working with Chanel, it is likely that any post in connection with your services is an endorsem*nt. There are nuances, but as long as you have a relationship with Chanel, a material connection disclosure is required. This includes any comments, statements, or content about the brand (or depicting brand products).
Keep in mind that tags, pins, and similar ways of showing you like a brand or product are endorsem*nts and require a disclosure.
- Maintain Clear and Conspicuous Disclosures – The wording of the disclosure must be clear, and the placement must be conspicuous. “Clear and conspicuous” means “difficult to miss (i.e., easily noticeable) and easily understandable by ordinary consumers” and unavoidable.
- Wording:
The following are
acceptable disclosures:- #sponsored, #paid, #ad, #ChanelPartner, or #GiftFromChanel (as applicable)
However, the following are
not acceptable:- Simply stating “Thanks Chanel”, “#partner”, #ambassador, or using abbreviations, such as #spon, #sp, or #collab
- Similarly, #gifted, #freeproduct, #comped, or #hosted are insufficient as they do not explain who provided the gift or that certain stuff was free (the FTC does not believe any of these are specific enough)
- Placement:
The disclosure must be easily noticeable in close proximity to the endorsem*nt. What does that mean in practice?
- Consider the placement, font style/size, and length of time on screen to ensure the disclaimer is easy to notice and read.
- Not buried in a string of links, hashtags, or copy – the disclosure should be made at the beginning of the post.
- Not just in your bio only, but placed in each post.
- User should not be required to click through a link, scroll down, click “more,” or mouse over a link in order to view the disclosure.
- If the disclosure is included within a caption (e.g. on Instagram), please include the disclosure within the first 2 lines of the caption “above the fold” or before the “more” link.
- Disclosures are required regardless of any space limitations of the medium (e.g., Instagram (and Instagram Stories), Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, etc.)
- Disclosures should match the medium in which they are made. That is, verbal disclosure is required when an endorsem*nt is mentioned verbally, and on-screen disclosure is required if the endorsem*nt is visibly depicted.
- If your endorsem*nt is in a picture on a platform like TikTok, Instagram Stories, or Snapchat, superimpose the disclosure over the picture and make sure viewers have enough time to notice and read it.
- If making an endorsem*nt in a video, the disclosure should be in the video and not just in the description uploaded with the video. Viewers are more likely to notice disclosures made aurally (via audio) and visually (superimposed on the video). Some viewers may watch without sound and others may listen but not notice visually superimposed words.
- If making an endorsem*nt in a live stream, the disclosure should be repeated periodically so viewers who only see part of the stream will see the disclosure.
- Do not rely on a social media platform’s disclosure tool (e.g., Facebook, Instagram or YouTube) as your disclosure. Use these tools when it is required or appropriate, but supplement with your own disclosure.
- If you are sharing a post from one platform to another (e.g., sharing a post to Instagram that was originally posted on TikTok), ensure that the disclosure carries over with the content.
- Don’t undersell your material connection. If you are being paid, don’t make it seem like you only got early access to a product. That said, you don’t need to – and should not – include the amount of payment in your disclosure.
- Wording:
- Give Your Honest and Truthful Opinions – Your statements should always reflect your honest and truthful opinions and actual experiences with Chanel and our products. However, all posts must be in good taste and free of inappropriate language, hate speech, and/or any content that promotes bigotry, racism, or discrimination.
- Only Make Factual Statements That Are Truthful and Can Be Verified - In an effort to be accurate, please refer to all Chanel-provided materials, if available, when developing content pertaining to us. Most importantly, you should make only factual statements about Chanel or Chanel’s product’s characteristics or quality which you know for certain are true, supportable, and can be verified. If you are not sure whether something can be supported, think about a way to frame the sentiment differently (e.g., avoid objective, fact-based statements, and instead talk about your subject, opinion-based experience with the product). Check with your contact at Chanel before making any factual claims about Chanel or a product.
- Respect Intellectual Property Rights – Intellectual property rights (“IP”) are rights to works that people create or invent, including copyright, trademark, and trade secret rights, as well as the right to use someone's name, likeness or voice. Examples include photographs, videos, music, trademarks/logos, personal names/likenesses (including celebrities’ names/likenesses), GIFs, and writings. You should never post or share any content that violates or infringes the IP rights of any third party. A good rule of thumb is, if your content is based on or incorporates someone else’s creation, make sure you have their permission to post it. Similarly, if your content features another individual, make sure you have their permission to include them in the content.
- Comply with other policies and laws – You must comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, as well as the terms, conditions, guidelines and policies of any social media platform you are on.
- Respect Confidentiality – We may share confidential information with you during the course of our work that is helpful for you to know but is not intended for you to share (“Confidential Information”). Confidential Information includes, but is not limited to, any data or information, oral or written, that relates to any our business activities, technology, developments, software, methods, or trade secrets. You shall maintain the Confidential Information in strict confidence and shall not disclose to any third party, or publish or copy any part of the Confidential Information, unless expressly agreed upon by Chanel in writing. You must return or destroy all Confidential Information immediately upon Chanel’s request.
CHANEL RESERVES THE RIGHT TO UPDATE OR CHANGE THESE GUIDELINES AT ANY TIME, MONITOR YOUR COMPLIANCE WITH THESE GUIDELINES, AND TERMINATE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN ANY APPLICABLE CAMPAIGN OR PROGRAM IN THE EVENT OF ANY NONCOMPLIANCE. IF WE NOTIFY YOU OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THESE GUIDELINES, YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY TAKE DOWN ALL NON-COMPLYING CONTENT.
