Short answer: When a med spa pays a creator or gives them a free treatment for a post, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides treat the post as an endorsement. They ask for a clear and conspicuous disclosure of that connection. The FTC says a platform’s built-in disclosure tool is no guarantee on its own. Under the Guides, the med spa that pays can be liable too.
Before you read: We based this guide on the FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), revised in 2023, and on the FTC staff’s answers about them. We also used the FTC’s brochure for social media influencers and Instagram’s help page on the paid partnership label. We read them on November 12, 2026. The FTC says the Guides don’t have the force of law, and that context decides whether a disclosure is needed. It is general information, not legal advice.
When a creator’s post is an endorsement
The Endorsement Guides call a promotional message an endorsement when consumers are likely to believe it reflects the opinions or experiences of someone other than the advertiser.
Under the same definitions, tags in social media posts can be endorsements, and a “product” includes a service, a brand or a company.
The FTC’s answers say the FTC Act covers recommendations made on behalf of an advertiser. That happens, for example, when the advertiser, or someone working for it, pays the creator or gives them something of value to mention the product.
If a creator mentions a treatment they paid for themselves, the FTC says there isn’t an issue.
A post can endorse without words. The FTC’s answers say a picture of a product, or a video of someone using it, could convey approval. Tagging a brand is an endorsement, they add, but it isn’t a disclosure of a connection.
A free treatment counts, not only money
The Guides ask for a clear and conspicuous disclosure when a connection might materially affect the weight or credibility of an endorsement and the audience wouldn’t reasonably expect it.
Such connections can include money and free or discounted products, whether or not the advertiser requires an endorsement in return. The FTC’s brochure for influencers lists a brand giving free or discounted products or services as a financial relationship.
One of the Guides’ examples is a clinic. A tennis player praises the results of laser vision surgery and names the clinic in a post on social media.
The Guides say that relationship should be disclosed even if it involves no payments, only the player getting the surgery for free or at a significantly reduced cost.
The brochure adds that a creator who got free or discounted products or other perks discloses it when mentioning one of the brand’s products, even if not asked to.
Reviews work the same way. The FTC’s answers say that someone who got a free or discounted product to review it discloses the connection everywhere they endorse it. An incentive can’t be conditioned on a review being positive, they add.
Our guide to review gating covers what the FTC’s rule on reviews says about incentives tied to the sentiment of a review.
How the disclosure should look on Instagram
The Guides define clear and conspicuous as difficult to miss and easily understandable by ordinary consumers. On social media, they add, the disclosure should be unavoidable.
If the endorsement is visual, the Guides place the disclosure at least in the visual part, and if it is spoken, at least in the audio. When it is both, the disclosure goes in both.
A disclosure shown and spoken at the same time is more likely to be clear and conspicuous, the Guides add.
The FTC’s answers note that Instagram cuts a long caption to its first 2 or 3 lines until someone clicks “more”. If the endorsement opens the caption, the disclosure should show without that click.
If the picture carries the endorsement on its own and a significant minority of viewers skip the caption, a disclosure in the caption could be inadequate. One over the picture might be needed.
In a video, the answers put the disclosure in the video itself, preferably both on screen and spoken.
For Stories, the FTC’s brochure says to superimpose the disclosure over the picture and give viewers enough time to notice and read it. The answers add that a solid background behind it might be needed.
The brochure says a disclosure is likely missed if it sits only on a profile page, at the end of a post or video, or behind “more”. It also warns against mixing the disclosure into a group of hashtags or links.
What the disclosure says
The FTC’s brochure says simple words like “advertisement”, “ad” and “sponsored” are often enough when placed where they are hard to miss. So is “Thanks to Acme brand for the free product”.
The brochure adds that including a hashtag such as #ad or #sponsored with the disclosure is fine, but not necessary. The FTC’s answers say “Ad:” and “ad” at the start of a post are probably equal to #ad, and that #ad works for a free product too.
The brochure warns against vague terms like “sp”, “spon” or “collab”, and against “thanks” or “ambassador” on their own. The answers call “Gifted” alone likely ambiguous, while “Gifted by” with the brand’s name should be enough when a free product is all the creator got.
The FTC’s answers also ask the disclosure to say who gave the gift. They call “I received free tickets” inadequate, because followers could think the tickets came from someone else.
If the creator was also paid, saying only “free” suggests they got nothing else, the answers say. A creator can say they were paid, without the amount.
The answers ask for the disclosure in whatever language or languages the endorsement is made. Their example is a creator posting in Spanish, whose disclosures go in Spanish.
In our view, for a free treatment, open the caption with “Ad” and your med spa’s name, before any hashtag.
Instagram’s paid partnership label
Instagram’s help center says its branded content policies require creators to use the paid partnership label when they post organic branded content, tagging the brand they work with.
The brand’s name appears in the “Paid partnership with” label once the brand approves the creator’s request. Until then, the label shows without the brand’s name. The brand needs a professional account on Instagram.
The FTC’s answers say a platform’s built-in tool is no guarantee of an effective disclosure. In an investigation, the FTC would evaluate whether the tool by itself discloses the connection clearly and conspicuously.
In an example in the Guides, an influencer relies only on such a tool. The disclosure shows in small white text on a light image and competes with other text, and the post appears for only 5 seconds. It is easy to miss.
The FTC says the responsibility for the disclosure rests with the influencer and the brand, not the platform. Its brochure suggests using the tool in addition to the creator’s own disclosure.
Our guide to the Instagram creator marketplace covers how brands find creators and run partnership ads, which Meta says are not the same as organic branded content.
What the med spa answers for
Under the Guides, advertisers are subject to liability for misleading or unsubstantiated statements made through endorsements. The same goes for failing to disclose unexpected material connections with their endorsers.
An advertiser may be liable even when the endorser is not. The Guides say advertisers should give their endorsers guidance, monitor them and act to fix problems.
They call good faith guidance, monitoring and remedies no safe harbor, but say these should reduce the odds of an FTC enforcement action.
The creator may be liable too, for example for a statement they know or should know is deceptive, or for leaving the disclosure out. When enforcement is needed, the FTC says its focus usually falls on advertisers, their ad agencies and public relations firms.
The FTC’s answers expect a reasonable program to train and monitor creators. Its scope depends on the risk, and the answers say a network selling health products may need more supervision than one promoting a fashion line.
The answers list what the program does. It tells creators what they can and cannot say, instructs them exactly how to disclose, searches what they post from time to time and acts on questionable practices.
With a reasonable program in place, the activity of one rogue influencer is unlikely to be the basis of an enforcement action against the company, the answers add.
Stories disappear, and the answers say there is probably no practical way to monitor them in real time. So they say to require your approval before any paid post goes up.
For creators who only get free products, the answers call training material important but insufficient. That holds even for an unsolicited free product with nothing else.
In that case, the answers say to ask the creator to disclose the gift and tell them how. They also say to ask for a tag of the brand and to monitor the tagged posts.
With no contract and only a free product, monitoring for at least a few months would probably be reasonable, according to the answers.
In our view, review each paid post before it goes up, Stories included, and keep a copy of what went out.
What a creator can say about a treatment
Under the Guides, an endorsement has to reflect the honest opinions or experience of the endorser. It also can’t convey a claim that would be deceptive if the advertiser made it directly.
The FTC’s brochure says a creator can’t talk about a product they haven’t tried, or call one terrific after finding it terrible. Nor can they make claims that need proof the advertiser doesn’t have, such as scientific proof that a product can treat a health condition.
The answers add that an advertiser giving creators only free products is still on the hook for their deceptive claims. A photo supplied by the brand is misleading if it suggests an experience the creator didn’t have.
In our view, give the creator a short written list before the visit: the treatment’s name, what your medical team approves saying about it, and the disclosure words.
Our med spa marketing page notes that injectables and lasers bring their own rules, set by Google, the FDA, Florida and the FTC. It also lists what we do for med spas, such as Facebook and Instagram ads that end in a WhatsApp chat.
Patient photos from a creator’s visit
A creator’s before and after photos show one patient’s result. Under the Guides, an endorsement about a key result will likely be read as what consumers will generally achieve.
In the clinic example’s TV interview, if viewers would likely take the player’s result as typical for the same procedure at that clinic, the advertiser needs substantiation for that claim.
The same example covers a repost. If the clinic reposts the player’s post and it had no clear and conspicuous disclosure, the clinic should clearly and conspicuously disclose its relationship to the athlete in its repost.
The Guides say the same when the original disclosure doesn’t appear clearly and conspicuously in the repost.
In our view, add your own disclosure each time you repost a creator, even when the original carries one.
Our guide to HIPAA and social media covers the written authorization HIPAA asks for before a patient’s photo is used in marketing, and how to show results.
When a creator’s post runs as an ad, Meta’s ad rules apply as well. Our guide to med spa marketing ideas covers what Meta allows in before and after photos.
Before a creator posts about your med spa
In our view, check before the visit:
- A written agreement says what the creator gets, the disclosure words and where they go.
- The disclosure opens the caption or sits over the picture, in the language of the post.
- The creator uses Instagram’s paid partnership label and a written disclosure of their own.
- The creator has your list of what your medical team approves saying about the treatment.
- Someone at your med spa reviews each paid post before it goes up, Stories included.
- Each repost on your account carries your own disclosure of the connection.
RememberUnder the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, a free treatment for a post can be a material connection, and they ask for a clear and conspicuous disclosure. The FTC’s brochure places it with the endorsement itself, and its answers say a platform’s tool is no guarantee. Under the Guides, the med spa can be liable too.
Questions about the FTC’s influencer rules
Is Instagram’s paid partnership label enough?
Not necessarily, the FTC’s answers say: a platform’s built-in tool is no guarantee of an effective disclosure. In an example in the Guides, a tool’s disclosure in small white text on a light image, in a post shown for 5 seconds, is easy to miss. The FTC says it’s always best to add your own disclosure.
Is a med spa liable if a creator doesn’t disclose?
It can be. The Guides make advertisers subject to liability for failing to disclose unexpected material connections with their endorsers, and an advertiser may be liable even when the endorser is not. The FTC’s answers expect a reasonable program to train and monitor the creators you work with.
What should a creator write to disclose a free treatment?
The FTC’s brochure for influencers says terms like “advertisement”, “ad” and “sponsored” are often enough when hard to miss, as is “Thanks to Acme brand for the free product”. It warns against “sp”, “spon” and “collab”. In our view, name your med spa and the treatment.
In what language should a creator disclose a free treatment?
In the language of the endorsement. The FTC’s answers ask for the disclosure in whatever language or languages the endorsement is made, with posts in Spanish as their example. The FTC’s brochure says the disclosure goes in the same language as the endorsement itself.
Can a med spa repost a creator’s post about a free treatment?
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides take up a clinic that reposts a post by a paid athlete. The clinic should clearly and conspicuously disclose its relationship to the athlete in the repost. That holds if the original had no such disclosure, or if its disclosure isn’t clear and conspicuous in the repost.
Sources
All read on November 12, 2026. From the FTC: Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR Part 255), on eCFR, up to date as of November 9, 2026. Its staff’s answers, FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking (June 2023), and its brochure Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers (November 2019). From Instagram’s help center: How to use the paid partnership label to tag organic branded content on Instagram.