Claim Substantiation
The documented evidence supporting advertising claims, required before claims are made in advertising by both the FTC and platform policies.
What Claim Substantiation means
Claim substantiation is the process of gathering and maintaining evidence that supports advertising claims before those claims are published. The FTC's substantiation doctrine, established in Pfizer (1972), requires advertisers to possess a 'reasonable basis' for objective claims at the time they are made. The level of substantiation required depends on the claim type: health claims require competent and reliable scientific evidence (typically randomized controlled trials), performance claims require appropriate testing, comparative claims require head-to-head data, and testimonials must represent typical results. Platforms enforce substantiation requirements through their review processes and may request evidence. Best practices include maintaining a substantiation dossier for each claim, having claims reviewed by legal counsel before publication, training creative teams on substantiation requirements, and establishing claim approval workflows. Substantiation failures are among the most common FTC enforcement triggers.
Related terms
Substantiation
The requirement to have evidence supporting advertising claims before making them, enforced by the FTC and platform policies.
FTC
The Federal Trade Commission — the primary US federal agency enforcing truth-in-advertising laws and consumer protection regulations.
Health Claims
Advertising claims about health benefits of products, heavily regulated by the FTC, FDA, and all major ad platforms.
Misleading Claims
Advertising statements that deceive or are likely to deceive consumers, prohibited by both regulations and platform policies.