Unpopular opinion- I often see creators doing posts/ stories without disclosing it is paid, sponsored, or gifted. As a creator, I know what it is, but most consumers won’t besides the fact it’s technically illegal to not disclose it. If you have been paid or gifted… disclose it.
Slightly different take. The reason to disclose isn’t because non-existent FTC police are gonna come for you (they aren’t); disclose because it’s what professionals do, and thereby gain credibility and trust by disclosing (admitting) what everyone believes anyway. Problem is, like with the annoying cookies opt in, we’ve become too desensitized to the disclosures and don’t notice them.
@findlovetravel I have never accepted any freebies. Still, I actually think this needs to change. Why should bloggers and content creators have to disclose freebies when major media publications don’t? I could write the same piece for my blog and a newspaper and only have to disclose once.