(Okay, so that’s not the headline I would have written, but it’s not too far off.)

There are two things to be really, really ticked off at.  Let me put my marketer hat on first:

Revised guidelines on endorsements and testimonials by the Federal
Trade Commission, now under review and expected to be adopted, would
hold companies liable for untruthful statements made by bloggers and
users of social networking sites who receive samples of their products

So I should stop recommending sampling programs to my CPG clients?  After all, if I happen to be passing out samples of laundry detergent in the park one day and some crazy blogger takes it home and claims on his blog that it tastes great when he sprinkles it on his Rice Krispies in the morning, I could get sued.  So in a world where anybody can be a blogger, can sampling programs survive?

Now let me put my blogger hat on for a second.

The guidelines would also hold bloggers liable for the statements they make about products.

The Internet’s effect on product design, development and marketing has been intense.  Manufacturers are better for it.  There’s no lack of consumer opinion, and if you make a superior product that people like, a groundswell of social media activity will help sell it for you.  Make something crummy and people will read the reviews and learn not to waste their time.  This dynamic would be completely and utterly screwed up if the FTC were to start suing bloggers for offering up their opinions on products.  Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater…