What Randall Rothenberg’s Open Letter to the FTC Should Have Looked Like

This is quite the rant that Randall Rothenberg, CEO of the IAB, wrote to the FTC in an open letter…

Dear Mr. Chairman:

So there I was last Saturday, about to send out on my Twitter feed — which automatically updates my Facebook page and links to my personal blog — a photograph of this wonderful baked halibut dish I’d just made as a surprise for my wife. I was in the middle of typing a rave review of the recipe, which I’d pulled from my favorite cookbook, Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain by Penelope Casas. But before I could press the “post” button, I stopped and canceled the whole thing.

I remembered that the book was a freebie, sent to me by an editor at the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house 13 years ago. And I didn’t want you guys to haul me into court and fine me for violating the rules you’ve just promulgated to muzzle social media.

He goes on… Read the whole letter on the IAB website.

I don’t know what his problem is, all he had to do is explain that he got the book for free 13 years prior somewhere in the 140 characters available in his Tweet.

And why didn’t he send the book back in the first place? That’s what all real journalists do.

And Mr. Rothenberg must not have felt it was appropriate to put an affiliate link in there.

Well, someone had to do it. And of course I must disclose.