In the world of CPG (consumer packaged goods), two FTC frameworks cover most of what a marketing team publishes.
The Endorsement Guides govern influencers, reviews, and testimonials.
The Green Guides govern environmental claims on pack, on shelf and online.
Neither is a statute, but the FTC applies both through Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits deceptive practices, and part of the endorsement framework now carries civil penalties.
CPG and FMCG brands are exposed on both fronts at once. A single launch can mean hundreds of SKUs, an influencer program with dozens of creators, retailer product pages full of reviews, and package copy that says "recyclable" or "plant-based" in six markets. The rules are concise, but content volume is a challenge.
This guide sets out what each framework requires, where CPG teams get tripped up, and what a review process that holds up under scrutiny looks like.
Framework | What it covers | Legal force | Where it impacts CPG |
|---|---|---|---|
Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) | Endorsements, influencer posts, testimonials, consumer reviews, material connections | Administrative guidance, revised June 2023, effective 26 July 2023. Departures can support a Section 5 case | Creator seeding, brand ambassadors, retailer reviews, user-generated content |
Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (16 CFR Part 465) | Fake reviews, bought reviews, insider reviews, review suppression, fake social indicators | Binding rule, effective 21 October 2024. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations | Review programmes, sampling campaigns, agency and affiliate activity |
Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260) | General environmental benefit claims, recyclable, recycled content, compostable, carbon claims and more | Administrative guidance, last revised 2012. Departures can support a Section 5 case | Packaging claims, sustainability pages, retailer listings, paid social |
What do the FTC Endorsement Guides require of CPG brands?
The Endorsement Guides apply to any message consumers are likely to read as reflecting someone else's opinions or experiences. That reaches well past a paid influencer post. Under 16 CFR 255.0, social media tags, product demonstrations, likenesses and even fabricated reviewers can qualify as endorsements. The FTC revised the Guides in June 2023, and the revision took effect on July 26, 2023.
For a CPG brand, six obligations cover most of the ground:
Disclose material connections. Free product, payment, affiliate commissions, employment and family ties all count. Disclosure is needed when a significant minority of the audience would not expect the connection (§255.5). It has to be clear and conspicuous, hard to miss, and not undercut by other content (§255.0(f)). A platform's built-in tool may not be enough on its own.
Substantiate what the endorser says. The brand needs evidence for any claim an endorsement conveys. If the endorser's result is not typical, the ad should say what consumers can generally expect (§255.2).
Use real users only. An endorser presented as a user must be a bona fide user (§255.1(c)).
Do not distort reviews. Procuring, suppressing, boosting, organizing, voting on or editing reviews in ways that skew consumer perception is out (§255.2(d)). The examples cover review gating and forwarding only the favorable ones.
Own your endorsers. Advertisers can be liable for an endorser's misleading statements or missing disclosures even when the endorser is not. The Guides expect brands to guide endorsers, monitor them and fix problems (§255.1(d)). Agencies, PR firms, and review brokers can be liable too (§255.1(f)).
Take care with children. Practices that work for adults may be questioned in child-directed advertising, and the FTC notes that disclosures will not work for younger children (§255.6).
The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule
Since October 21, 2024, a separate binding rule (16 CFR Part 465) bans the worst review practices outright. It prohibits fake or false reviews, buying reviews that must express a particular sentiment, posting insider reviews without disclosing the relationship, presenting company-controlled sites as independent, suppressing reviews through intimidation or unfounded legal threats, and buying fake social media indicators such as bot followers. Ordinary consumers are not liable under it. Brands, agencies, PR firms, and review brokers can be.
Enforcement has started. In December 2025, FTC staff sent warning letters to 10 companies about possible violations. The FTC states that violations can bring civil penalties of up to $53,088 each. The letters are not findings of wrongdoing, but they show where the agency is looking.
What do the Green Guides require of CPG brands?
The Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260) explain how the FTC expects environmental claims to be made and supported. Their core rule is simple. Any environmental claim about a product or its packaging needs competent and reliable scientific evidence. Broad terms such as "eco-friendly" are the hardest to support, so they should be qualified (§260.4).
The Guides then work claim by claim. The table covers the claims CPG teams meet most often, using the sections the FTC itself flagged in its December 2022 review notice.
Claim | Green Guides section | What reviewers should check |
|---|---|---|
"Eco-friendly," "green," "sustainable" | §260.4 | Broad claims suggest wide benefits. Qualify them or name the specific benefit and prove it |
"Recyclable" | §260.12 | Whether recycling facilities are available to a substantial majority of consumers where the item is sold. The Guides have treated 60 per cent as that threshold, and the FTC has asked whether to revisit it |
"Made with recycled content" | §260.13 | Whether the claim reflects actual recycled material, and how pre-consumer and post-consumer content is described. The FTC has asked whether alternative methods such as mass balance should be allowed |
"Compostable" | §260.7 | Whether the item breaks down in the settings consumers can actually use, home or industrial |
"Degradable" | §260.8 | Whether the item fully breaks down within a reasonably short period |
"Carbon neutral," "net zero," offsets | §260.5 | Whether the offset claim is supported and not double-counted. The FTC has asked about updating the climate claim guidance |
Where the Guides stand today
The Guides were last revised in 2012. The FTC opened a review in December 2022, with comments due in February 2023, and asked whether to keep, change or rescind them. Trade trackers report that, as of late 2026, no updated Guides have been published.
The pressure has moved to the states. California Business and Professions Code §17580 applies the FTC guidance as the standard for terms such as "recycled," "recyclable," and "biodegradable." Its "greenwashing" statute, §17580.5, lets plaintiffs challenge misleading environmental claims, and commentators note that conforming to the Green Guides is a defence. California's SB 343, which restricts recyclability claims and the chasing arrows symbol on packaging, is caught up in a First Amendment challenge, and a federal judge blocked its enforcement in July 2026. Check that case before you set pack policy. Federal bills that would harden the Guides into law, including the PACK Act and the Truth in Labeling Act, have been introduced but not passed.
Where can CPG marketing compliance break down?
The rules are not obscure. The failures come from scale, speed, and the number of hands on each asset. A few patterns tend to repeat themselves:
Disclosures that exist but do not work. A creator tags the brand and buries "#ad" in a block of hashtags, or relies only on the platform's paid partnership label. The Guides ask whether the disclosure is easy to notice and understand, not whether it is technically present.
Creators who go beyond the approved claims. A brief says "hydrating." The post says "clinically proven" or "better for the planet." Under §255.1(d) the brand can answer for that statement, so monitoring after the post goes live matters as much as the brief.
Review programs that lean on sentiment. Sampling campaigns that ask for honest reviews and disclose the free product are fine. Ones that reward or screen for positive reviews, filter negative reviews out of a brand-run site, or let employees post without saying so are the conduct the Reviews Rule targets.
Package claims that outrun local reality. One global package says "recyclable," but recycling access differs by market and by state. A claim that holds in one place can mislead in another.
Copy that drifts across channels. The package says "made with 30% recycled plastic." The retailer listing says "eco-friendly." The paid social ad says "better for the planet." Each version changes the claim, and each is viewed by a consumer who may only see that version.
What are the enforcement risks?
The FTC is the first source of risk, but not the only one.
At the federal level, the FTC treats deceptive endorsements and environmental claims as Section 5 violations. Since October 2024 it can also seek civil penalties for knowing violations of the Reviews Rule, at up to $53,088 per violation. Its December 2025 warning letters show the Rule is being used in practice.
At the state level, California gives private plaintiffs a route through §17580.5, with the Green Guides acting as a defence for claims that conform to them. That makes documented Green Guides alignment more than a nice-to-have. It is evidence.
Agencies, PR firms, and review brokers carry their own exposure under the Endorsement Guides and the Reviews Rule. A weak claim can implicate your partners as well as the brand.
What does a defensible review process look like?
For each asset, a defensible process answers: what did we say, on what basis, and who approved it. Here are six steps to follow:
Build a claims library. Keep each approved claim with its substantiation, the date, the market and the products it covers.
Write your standards in your own terms. Set disclosure rules by platform, recyclability rules by market and a list of broad terms that need qualification or evidence.
Review before publication. Cover package copy, retailer listings, paid social, and creator briefs and drafts, not only the hero campaign.
Monitor what goes live. Check creator posts, ads, listings, and reviews against the approved claims, because the Guides expect brands to monitor their endorsers.
Keep the record. Store the approval history and the evidence behind each decision in one place. It supports the monitoring duty and, in California, a Green Guides defence.
Re-review when the rules move. A revised Green Guides, the outcome of the SB 343 case or a new FTC action should trigger a sweep of live claims.
How Haast supports CPG and FMCG marketing compliance
Haast is an AI marketing compliance platform that reviews content against the standards your organisation has encoded. For a CPG team, that means your own reading of the Endorsement Guides, the Reviews Rule and the Green Guides becomes the benchmark every asset is checked against.
Haast reviews content before publication, monitors live and social channels, and preserves the approval history and the basis for each decision. Implementation is led by Haast's in-house legal team, so your standards are encoded by people who work with these rules.
If you want to see how Haast flags undisclosed endorsements and unsupported environmental claims before they reach a consumer, book a demo with our team.
Frequently asked questions
What are the FTC Endorsement Guides?
They are the FTC's guidance on how advertisers should use endorsements, testimonials and consumer reviews without misleading consumers. They sit in 16 CFR Part 255 and were revised in June 2023.
Do the Endorsement Guides apply to influencers working with CPG brands?
Yes. Influencers must disclose material connections such as free product or payment, and brands can be liable for an influencer's misleading claims or missing disclosures. The Guides expect brands to guide and monitor their endorsers.
What are the Green Guides?
They are the FTC's guidance on environmental marketing claims, in 16 CFR Part 260. They cover general environmental benefit claims and specific claims such as recyclable, recycled content, compostable and carbon offsets. They were last revised in 2012.
Are the Green Guides legally binding?
The Guides are administrative interpretations rather than a standalone rule, but the FTC can act under Section 5 of the FTC Act against claims that mislead. California also builds the Guides into its own law, so they carry weight in state litigation.
Can a CPG brand put "recyclable" on its packaging?
Only if the claim is supported. The Green Guides look at whether recycling facilities are available to a substantial majority of consumers where the item is sold, and unqualified claims are risky where access is limited. California's SB 343 adds separate restrictions, but its enforcement was blocked by a federal court in July 2026, so check its current status.
What is the penalty for fake reviews?
The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule allows courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations. The FTC states the maximum at $53,088 per violation.
Team Haast
