A consumer advocacy group wants the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to open an investigation into whether Dr. Mehmet Oz violated influencer marketing rules by promoting products from a wellness and supplement company across social media without appropriate disclosures.
In a letter sent to the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Tuesday, Public Citizen said Oz regularly cross-posts content for iHerb among various platforms like X, TikTok and Instagram without disclosing his financial connections to the company.
“Disguised advertisements are inherently deceptive, because consumers do not know to apply appropriate screens,” Public Citizen said in the letter. “The issue is acute with disguised ads featuring paid endorsements, where deceived consumers believe admired celebrities are making genuine, self-directed and enthusiastic endorsements of brands, not realizing that those celebrities are instead paid and may not even use the touted brand.”
Oz, who was tapped by President-elect Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has served as a “global advisor” for iHerb since 2023.
In an Instagram post the day before Thanksgiving, Oz told his 1.1 million followers that they could reduce Thanksgiving stress “with adaptogens like ashwagandha from a trusted source like iHerb.”
Public Citizen noted Oz discloses that he is an “@iHerb Global Advisor & Stakeholder” but none of his video posts disclose his financial connections, nor does the accompanying text. The posts also lack other disclosures such as the hashtag #ad.
FTC guidelines say that advertiser disclosures should be placed with the endorsement message itself.
“The guidelines are clear that endorsement disclosures must be made in every promotion, not just generically,” the watchdog wrote. “Specifically, if a person is using their social media account to promote a product or service in exchange for compensation, they must note the paid relationship in social media post.”
Oz’s posts on TikTok do contain disclosures, which Public Citizen said are likely automated by TikTok’s content disclosure system. But it is not clear if they sufficiently disclose his interests, the group added.
