Ariana Grande has filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 and its related beauty brand, Riley Rose (founded by the daughters of Forever 21 founder, Do Wan Chang), alleging that the fast fashion and beauty brands capitalized on the success of Ms. Grande’s Thank U, Next album by posting images of Ms. Grande on the brands’ social media accounts as well as images of a model bearing a striking resemblance to Ms. Grande.
Over the last several years, the use of social media as a vehicle for advertising has grown exponentially. As discussed in prior blog posts, examples of which you can find here and here, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has released guidelines pertaining to such paid social media posts, requiring that any material connections between advertisers/brands and those social media users posting the content is clearly and conspicuously disclosed.